Toledo Blade...
Jobs package is dead, GOP leader declares
Cantor says House will vote on only parts of $447B plan  
October  7, 2011 

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s job-creation package effectively fell to pieces Monday as a top Republican lawmaker said the House will pass only portions of the $447 billion measure. 

As Mr. Obama continued to press lawmakers for a vote on the legislation, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, said that was not going to happen. 

Asked if the bill as a complete package was dead, Mr. Cantor said: “Yes.” 

“This all-or-nothing approach is unreasonable,” he said. 

The bill appeared to be in trouble in the Democratic-controlled Senate as well, where aides from both parties said it is likely to fail when it comes up for a vote this month. 

Monday’s developments seemed to confirm what many analysts have believed for weeks — that Washington is too divided to take any significant steps to lower the 9.1 percent unemployment rate before the 2012 congressional and presidential elections. 

“At this point I think that Washington has become so dysfunctional that we’ve got to start focusing on the incremental progress we can make,” Mr. Cantor said. “Both sides want to do the big, bold things — the problem is they look vastly different.” 

Mr. Obama said he would be willing to consider a piecemeal approach on the legislation. Polls show that jobs and the economy are voters’ top concern and that many Americans have lost confidence in Mr. Obama’s economic leadership. 

Mr. Obama told reporters, “If there are aspects of the bill that they [Republicans] don’t like, they should tell us what it is they are not willing to go for, they should tell us what it is they are prepared to see move forward.” 

Since unveiling the plan in a speech to Congress last month, Mr. Obama has promoted the package in campaign-style rallies across the country. 

He has traveled to politically important states and to districts of key Republican leaders to press for passage. Mr. Obama planned to stump for the bill in the Dallas suburbs Tuesday. 

Monday, Mr. Obama insisted that Congress vote on his entire $447 billion economic plan this month. He expressed confidence that the public supports his call for more spending on public works projects and on job security for teachers and police officers. 

“Ultimately, they’ve got to do the right thing for the American people,” Mr. Obama said of lawmakers. 

His jobs plan would reduce payroll taxes on employees and employers, extend benefits for the long-term unemployed, spend money on public works projects, and help states and local governments keep teachers, police officers, and firefighters on the job. He would pay for the plan with tax increases on wealthier Americans and by closing corporate loopholes. 

Most elements of the bill have polled well among voters — even the tax increases on businesses and the wealthy that Republicans and some Democrats adamantly oppose. 

House Republicans have advanced their own job-creation agenda centered on relaxed pollution regulations. 

At the same time, they have said they are willing to work with Mr. Obama whenever possible, seeking to lower the temperature since a bruising budget battle in August led to a downgrade in the United States’ credit rating for the first time. 

Mr. Cantor said the House would pass one element of Mr. Obama’s jobs package this month: a provision that allows government contractors to collect all the money that is due to them rather than having 3 percent automatically withheld for taxes. 

That would cost about $14 billion over 10 years — a tiny fraction of the entire jobs bill, which revolves around a payroll tax cut, infrastructure spending, and aid to state and local governments. 

Republicans also will work with Mr. Obama to pass long-stalled trade agreements, Mr. Cantor said. 

One central element of the package, which would extend a payroll tax cut for businesses and workers, is “part of the discussion,” Mr. Cantor said, but he declined to say whether he would bring it up for a vote. 

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said he would schedule a vote on the bill this month. 

“Members of both parties should rally behind the common-sense, bipartisan approach of this legislation,” Mr. Reid said. 

Prospects for passage in the Senate appeared doubtful because most legislation needs support from both parties if it is to advance. 

All but a handful of Republicans will vote against it, according to a Republican aide, and several Democrats are likely to oppose it as well. 

The President’s position is delicately balanced. He wants Republicans to share responsibility for the poor economy, but he cannot show himself to be helpless in the face of congressional pushback. 

Underscoring his difficulties, Mr. Obama conceded in an interview with ABC that Americans are not better off today than they were four years ago. 

“What we’ve seen,” he added, “is that we’ve been able to make steady progress to stabilize the economy, but the unemployment rate is still way too high.” 

Senior administration officials said the White House planned to employ a communications strategy that uses the GOP as a scapegoat if the jobs bill doesn’t pass. 

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss political strategy, said the administration would focus in particular on Republican House members in moderate districts. The administration’s goal, they said, it to present a picture of the Democrats unified in pushing for the jobs bill and the Republicans in opposition. 

But even some Democrats have balked at Mr. Obama’s plan. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, told a radio interviewer last week that the President’s bill lacked the 60 votes that are typically needed to overcome procedural obstacles. The Illinois senator said some of the tax measures faced resistance within his own party. 

Read it at the Toledo Blade