Columbus Dispatch...
Obama presses Congress to act on jobs now
Fort Hayes speech promoting his plan highlights help for schools
By Joe Vardon 

Congress had had its hands on President Barack Obama’s jobs bill for about 24 hours before the president was asking a Columbus crowd yesterday why it hadn’t been passed yet. 

“What on Earth are we waiting for?” Obama said 

The Democratic president touted his American Jobs Act, a $447 billion stimulus plan, in a 13-minute speech to about 3,250 people at the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School. 

During his talk in this key political battleground, he clearly had his sights set on Republicans in Congress who might oppose his plan. Obama repeated the phrase “pass this bill” throughout his speech, and the crowd interrupted him many times to echo the same line. 

Obama is portraying his proposed jobs act — a mix of tax cuts for workers, infrastructure spending, hiring incentives and cash to keep teachers and police from the layoff line — as a grab bag of policies that Republicans have supported in the past. 

Similar to Harry Truman circa 1948, Obama, with his re-election bid looming, could be positioning himself against a Republican-controlled House and some GOP senators that balk at passing the bill. 

“They’re thinking maybe they don’t do it this time because Obama is promoting it,” the president said. “Give me a win? This isn’t about giving me a win. This isn’t about giving Democrats or Republicans a win. It’s about giving the American people a win. It’s about giving Ohio a win.” 

Earlier, as Air Force One prepared to land at Rickenbacker Airport, press secretary Jay Carney told reporters, “Congress will have a lot of explaining to do” if lawmakers haven’t moved to boost job growth by the end of the year. 

In a conference call preceding Obama’s visit, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine portrayed the president’s visit as a purely political campaign stop in a crucial electoral state. 

“Time and time again, he has proven himself to be the consummate campaigner-in-chief … but he’s not good on following through on his promises and getting our economy back on the rails,” Priebus said. 

He and DeWine criticized Obama’s proposal, with Priebus characterizing it as “more spending, more debt and more deficits from here to the high heavens.” 

Obama wants to pay for his plan by closing tax loopholes for wealthy Americans, oil and gas companies, and jet owners. 

But the enthusiastic, supportive crowd listening to Obama under a hot sun yesterday appeared willing to blame Congress for the country’s political turmoil. 

“His hands are tied,” said Emma Session, 72, of Columbus. “I hope in the months to come, Congress listens so the country can get back to where it needs to be.” 

The White House chose Fort Hayes, near I-670 and I-71, for Obama to highlight the $25 billion set aside under his jobs plan to refurbish school buildings. The president toured a “modernized” classroom in the basement of a Civil War-era building on campus that was part of a five-year renovation; it supported 250 jobs. 

Under his plan, Columbus City Schools stand to get as much as $111.6 million to refurbish its buildings. Ohio schools could get nearly $1 billion. 

The money could be used for emergency repair and renovation; greening and energy-efficiency upgrades; asbestos abatement and removal; and technology infrastructure upgrades such as new science and computer labs. 

“The renovation of Fort Hayes is a great example of where those jobs can come from if we can finally get our act together in Washington,” Obama said. 

Andrew Marcelain, a Columbus schools spokesman, said the district doesn’t know how it would use the money from Obama’s jobs bill, “but we would welcome any additional funds.” 

Marcelain couldn’t say yesterday what the district’s budget for repairs and upgrades was last year, but the windfall could pay for the equivalent of more than 12 new elementary buildings or three new state-of-the-art high schools. 

Since the district started its local- and state-funded rebuilding initiative a decade ago, it has replaced scores of boilers, roofs and other systems at buildings not slated to be replaced until later in the construction program.

Obama’s proposal also includes $148.3 million to help pay for renovations for community colleges, which Columbus State Community College officials characterized as timely. 

Trustees have started planning for $15 million in renovations for the college’s Union Hall, which was built in the early 1970s and serves students in the health-care field. 

“There are a lot of community-college programs that are technical in nature, and there is a need for new facilities,” Columbus State spokesman Will Kopp said. “The college is setting aside funding for the project. If there would be funding from this bill, that would be a big help.” 

The presidential motorcade slipped past about two dozen protesters near Fort Hayes. When Obama arrived in the basement classroom for his quick tour, about 25 students were working on Macintosh computers designing graphics. 

“You guys are all pretty creative,” Obama told the class. “I am not sure I would’ve come up with some of this stuff.” 

He added, “I wouldn’t mind taking a few classes here.” 

Read it at the Columbus Dispatch