Barack Obama

White House: Our Jobs Message Is Catching Fire

Susan Crabtree | October 28, 2011, 1:55PM

The White House is pushing ahead with its strategy of taking executive action to circumvent Congressional GOP opposition on job creation, on Friday unveiling a new presidential memorandum aimed at helping private businesses in hard economic times.

As President Obama struggles to build support for many components of his jobs bill in Congress, he continued to roll-out unilateral steps as part of his new "We Can't Wait" theme. Obama on Friday signed two business-friendly memorandums: one that would shorten the time it takes for federal research to translate into commercial products in the marketplace, and another creating a website, known as BusinessUSA, to make it easier for companies to learn about federal export opportunities and other government services.

"Today, I am directing my administration to take two important steps to help American businesses create new products, compete in a global economy, and create jobs here at home," Obama said in statement.

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American Jobs Act

White House Hands GOP Victory In Jobs Bill Shadow Boxing Match

Brian Beutler | October 25, 2011, 5:38PM

President Barack Obama

Republicans just won a round of jousting over President Obama's jobs bill.

President Obama supports passage of House GOP legislation that would eliminate a tax compliance rule affecting big government contractors and pay for it by limiting Medicaid eligibility, the White House announced Tuesday.

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Veterans

White House: 'We Can't Wait' To Put Vets Back To Work

Susan Crabtree | October 25, 2011, 12:33PM

A soldier helps guard the Rumelia Oil Field in southern Iraq on April 2, 2003.

As part of its new "We Can't Wait" for Congress theme, the White House has announced an initiative to help veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars get back to work.

The latest effort, part of a comprehensive plan to transition veterans from the battlefield to the workplace, challenges community health centers around the country to hire 8,000 veterans over the next three years.

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Joe Biden

Biden's Office Complains After Reporter Ambush

Susan Crabtree | October 25, 2011, 9:47AM

Vice President Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden's office is none too pleased with a tricky reporter ambush of him that got ugly and went viral last week.

Biden, never one to shy away from reporters even after a career of headline-making gaffes and wisecracks, is drawing the line. Biden's office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation he had with a conservative reporter, The Hill reports.

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Barack Obama

Next Act In DC's Kabuki Theater: House GOP Lays Trap For Obama On Jobs Plan

Brian Beutler | October 25, 2011, 5:00AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama

The House GOP has hit upon a way to undercut President Obama's attacks on them and advance conservative policy goals all at once. This week, they'll pass legislation that includes perhaps the least stimulative measure in President Obama's jobs bill and pay for it with perhaps the most regressive measure in a recent package of deficit reducing proposals he submitted to the joint deficit super committee.

It's a case study in the perils of offering concessions to your opponents before negotiations have begun. And it will force Democrats in both chambers, but particularly in the Senate, to decide whether to pass a proposal comprised of measures Obama's backed in the past, even though they've been cherry picked to essentially constitute a Republican piece of legislation. If Senate Dems block the measure, Republicans will accuse them of wanting to pick political fights instead of passing Obama jobs legislation. If Dems pass the measure, and Obama signs it, the GOP can cite it as evidence that they're not simply standing in the way of action on the economy.

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Housing/Foreclosures

Obama Rolls Out New 'We Can't Wait' Slogan On Housing, Economy

Susan Crabtree | October 24, 2011, 2:04PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama is heading straight into the heart of the housing crisis -- Nevada -- to unveil a series of executive branch steps to give the economy a shot in the arm, beginning with new rules making it easier for underwater homeowners to refinance their mortgages.

The White House is calling the new roll-out the "We-Can't-Wait" program, a not-so-subtle jab at Republicans in Congress, who have spent the last two weeks blocking Obama's job bill. Las Vegas' economy was one of the hardest hit by the housing crisis.

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor Called For 'A Steve Jobs Plan' In Prepared Remarks For Cancelled Speech

Benjy Sarlin | October 21, 2011, 3:20PM

Eric Cantor may have cancelled Friday's lecture on income inequality out of concerns protestors would dominate the audience, but you can still read his prepared remarks, in which the congressman calls on students to take after Steve Jobs and start their own business. The GOP Majority Leader's office sent the complete speech to The Daily Pennsylvanian, UPenn's campus newspaper.

"There is a ladder of success in America," Cantor wrote. "However, it is a ladder built not by Washington, but by hard work, responsibility and the initiative of the people of our country."

He offered his own family as an example, recounting how his grandmother managed to make a life in America after emigrating from Eastern Europe even though "in the early 20th century, the South wasn't often the most accepting place for a young Jewish woman."

Cantor addressed the growing debate over whether the rich are paying their fair share, but never mentioned the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, whose planned protests led to his speech's cancellation, by name.

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Democrats

Senate Dems To Force Another Vote On Jobs Plan

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2011, 1:42PM

Senate Democrats will continue their push to pass pieces of President Obama's jobs bill by forcing another test vote, in just over a week, on legislation to fund key infrastructure projects, and to seed an infrastructure bank, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced Friday.

The legislation would provide $50 billion worth of direct investment to transportation and other infrastructure projects, and create a federal infrastructure bank, with authority to loan money to states and private companies to build out public-use infrastructure.

The kicker is that it will be paid for with a 0.7 percent surtax on income over $1 million a year. That's a slight tick higher than the minuscule surtax Democrats proposed to pay for legislation to hire teachers and emergency first responders that Republicans filibustered late Thursday night.

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Jobs

Senate 'Comity' Breaks Down Over Duelling Jobs Bill Votes

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2011, 11:36AM

Did another Senate tradition come to an end this week?

Not exactly. But something very rare did happen and Democrats are using it as a cautionary tale, to warn Republicans not to get too brazen.

Thursday night, Democrats filibustered a Republican-backed provision of President Obama's jobs bill, because the GOP proposed to pay for it by slashing $30 billion worth of funds for federal programs. Republicans forced the vote to build a counter-narrative that Democrats don't want to work with them on jobs legislation, even bits of Obama's own plan.

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Barack Obama

Obama: GOP Needs To Explain Why Americans Don't Deserve Jobs

Susan Crabtree | October 21, 2011, 5:50AM

President Obama continued to hammer away at Republicans to stop obstructing his jobs bill after Senate Republicans, along with three conservative Democrats, prevented any traction on the portion that would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.

The Thursday vote to stop floor debate came as no surprise. Democrats and President Obama had expected the bill to fail and likely chose the teachers and first responders spending portion because they knew Republicans would vote against it in lockstep and the move would play into the Democratic message of Republicans obstructing job creation. Just last week, Republicans, along with three Democrats, voted down the entire jobs package when it was offered as a whole.

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Jobs

Senate Republicans Block Dem Jobs Bill For Teachers, Firefighters

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2011, 10:34PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Republicans, joined by three conservative members of the Democratic caucus, blocked a floor debate on a key portion of President Obama's jobs bill, which would have provided states $35 billion to hire or retain teachers and emergency responders.

The final tally on the late Thursday vote was 50-50, with Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and Ben Nelson (D-NE) voting with the entire Republican caucus to support the filibuster. The GOP continues to oppose all economic stimulus proposals that involve spending money on jobs, and take even greater exception to Obama's jobs bills, which pays for that spending with a small surtax on millionaires.

Democrats expected the legislation to fail, but plan to use routine GOP obstruction to strengthen the narrative that the Republican party is unwilling to help improve the economy, or to raise taxes on wealthy people to pay for any of the country's needs.

To wit, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) issued an official statement after the vote denouncing Republicans for "unanimously block[iing] a bill that would have kept 400,000 teachers in the classroom and first responders on the job because they refuse to ask millionaires to pay their fair share."

"By asking millionaires to pay an extra half a penny on the dollar, this bill would have created jobs by keeping our communities safe and ensuring that our children continue to have access to a high-quality education," Reid said. "Unfortunately, protecting millionaires and defeating President Obama are more important to my Republican colleagues than creating jobs and getting our economy back on track."

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Harry Reid

Republicans Find One Piece Of Obama's Jobs Bill They Like

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2011, 5:52PM

Senate jousting over President Obama's jobs bill will continue late Thursday or early Friday.

The leaders of both parties have each teed up test votes on separate provisions from the bill, for opposite political reasons. For Democrats, the relentless push for votes on pieces of the bill is meant to build a narrative voters understand: Dems support legislation that will create jobs; Republicans don't. Dems support paying for jobs bills with tiny tax increases on millionaires; Republicans support those millionaires.

But two can play at that game.

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Harry Reid

Reid To GOP On Jobs: POTUS Bus Tour Seems To Be Working

Susan Crabtree | October 19, 2011, 1:04PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is reminding Republicans attacking President Obama for traveling around the country promoting his jobs plan that the bus tour seems to be working -- polls show most Americans support the plan to get Americans back to work.

Ahead of Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Capitol Hill later Wednesday afternoon, Reid touted poll number after poll number showing strong bipartisan support for the entire jobs package -- and overwhelming support for the break-out component introduced in the Senate Monday aimed at putting 400,000 teachers, police officers and first-responders back to work.

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Barack Obama

Mitch McConnell Unloads On President Obama Over Jobs Bill (AUDIO)

Brian Beutler | October 18, 2011, 4:43PM

Spend enough time around Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and you'll learn a few things about him. He's the most disciplined GOP leader on the Hill, and one of its savviest. His devious parliamentary tactics have been a cornerstone of the GOP strategy to thwart the Democratic agenda, of which he was the key architect.

But he rarely loses his cool.

That's why his acid-tongued attack on President Obama Tuesday came as such a surprise -- and, perhaps, an indication that Obama's campaign against the GOP for blocking his jobs bill is working.

Here's the audio, from McConnell's weekly Capitol briefing with reporters.

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John Boehner

White House To Boehner On Jobs Plan: Did We Hit A Nerve?

Susan Crabtree | October 14, 2011, 1:47PM

The White House is holding fast to its claim that Republicans are running a do-nothing Congress, and, unlike President Obama, have yet to put forth a jobs bill -- or at least a real one.

Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) press office Thursday evening pointedly released a summary of a private phone call he and Obama had earlier that day, in which Boehner took serious issue with Obama's claims during that morning's press conference that he has yet to see a GOP plan for job creation. (Obama had called Boehner to congratulate him on the passage of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama).

Boehner reminded Obama that House Republicans put forth a "Plan for America's Job Creators" in May, and noted that he and other members of the GOP leadership team have spoken with the President and his staff about the plan and referenced it on numerous occasions, in letters and elsewhere.

The GOP plan consists of repealing government regulations on businesses, reducing taxes on individuals to 25 percent, allowing businesses to reinvest their overseas profits in the U.S. without having to pay a tax penalty, passing the three trade agreements, maximizing U.S. energy production and paying down the debt by slashing government spending.

But the White House argues that most of those policies -- minus the trade agreements (which he strongly supported) -- won't do anything to create jobs immediately, and so Obama and his team don't consider the proposal a real Jobs plan and they haven't been shy about saying so.

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Friday was asked whether Obama was miffed by Boehner's decision to release the contents of his private conversation with the President. Carney's response: we must have hit a nerve.

"What I think it points out [is] that Republicans are coming under pressure from their constituents to do something on jobs and the economy, because again, one of the reasons they're coming under pressure, we're not just saying this is essential, their constituents are saying it," Carney said.

"The Republicans' so-called plan for jobs creators, while it might have some good ideas in it, free trade agreements, passage of patent reform and some other issues, those same outside analysts are saying will have no significant impact on the economy or jobs in the near term," he continued.

In Boehner's account of the phone call, he told Obama that Republicans have given his jobs plan serious consideration and even released a detailed memo outlining specific areas where they believe common ground can be found.

Boehner also pointed out that the House has already acted on several items in the White House jobs package, including a veterans hiring bill, trade agreements, and a 3 percent withholding bill, which the Ways & Means Committee approved Thursday and will be voted on the House floor this month.

"They also discussed transportation and infrastructure, and the Speaker expressed his desire to do something on the issue, but to do it in a fiscally-responsible way," Boehner's release noted.

Correction: original report misquoted Carney as saying NAFTA reform, instead of patent reform.

Jobs

Big, Bold And Balanced vs. Tiny, Tepid, Tilted -- Dems, GOP Do Battle Over Deficits, Jobs

Brian Beutler | October 13, 2011, 3:21PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Listening to Congressional leaders these days, it's easy to forget that over a year ago Republicans put the budget at the top of the legislative agenda, and swamped Democrats at the polls with a simple question: "Where are the jobs?!"

For better or worse those issues are now inextricably linked. By consensus, job creation measures will have to be paid for, and doing anything substantial to help the economy now will require passing a larger and more equitable package of deficit-reducing policies than Republicans ever wanted.

Thus, the imperatives of the moment are issues Democrats want to tackle -- both for ideological reasons and out of political necessity. Their roles have flipped, in other words, with Democrats demanding swift action on the economy and deficits, and Republicans slinking into the background on both issues.

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Chuck Schumer

Schumer Brands GOP Agenda 'Tea Party Economics'

Brian Beutler | October 12, 2011, 3:37PM

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

Democrats' efforts to pass jobs legislation before the end of the year don't just rest on President Obama's bully pulpit and the hope that Republicans will demonstrate good will. They're actively trying to dismantle what's left of public support for the Republican economic agenda.

In a memo to party members and the media, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) -- the Dems' top strategist in the Senate -- argues that the GOP is intentionally blocking all measures that could improve the economy for political gain.

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Harry Reid

Reid: Individual Jobs Bills To Be Paid For With Taxes On Millionaires

Brian Beutler | October 12, 2011, 2:14PM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

Now that Republicans have successfully blocked debate on President Obama's full jobs bill, Senate Dems plan to break it into pieces -- force tough votes for Republicans on issues they've supported in the past like infrastructure spending and payroll tax cuts. But all those things cost money or deplete revenues, and in this austerity-obsessed Congress, nothing will pass unless its paid for. So Dems will present the GOP with a stark choice: side with the unemployed or side with rich people.

At his weekly Capitol press briefing Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid explained that the cost of each jobs proposal will be offset "with the tax that the vast majority of the American people support. That is, taxing just a little bit people making more than a million dollars a year."

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Jobs

Dems Win Jobs Bill Fight -- But Expose Major Strategic Weakness Ahead Of 2012

Brian Beutler | October 12, 2011, 5:50AM

After an agonizing week of arm-twisting, and a vote that had to be held open for hours, Senate Democrats got their act together. But only barely.

A full 51 of them voted as a bloc Tuesday, not to pass President Obama's jobs plan or even to break a GOP filibuster of the bill, but simply for the proposition that the Senate should publicly debate the most pressing issue in the country.

That wasn't enough to prevail. Under the Senate's obscure rules, simply debating a piece of legislation often requires 60 votes. And two Dems -- Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and John Tester (D-MT) -- voted with all 46 present Republicans to block the debate from happening altogether. (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) also switched his vote to "no" at the last moment, but only as a procedural trick that allows him to bring the jobs bill up for another vote in the future.) But it was enough for the Dems to claim a partisan GOP minority is blocking meaningful action on the economy.

Indeed, that the vote failed was entirely expected. The point of Tuesdays vote was to allow Dems take a message to voters: With unemployment over 9 percent, Republicans unanimously snuffed out the the only bill on the docket that promises to significantly boost the economy -- without even allowing a debate on it.

"Republicans unanimously voted against our nation's economic health to advance their narrow political interests," charged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in a blunt official statement. "Republicans blocked a bill that would put nearly two million Americans back to work. And they voted against this job-creating bill despite previously supporting many of the ideas it contains, such as tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses."

But the outcome wasn't an unambiguous victory for Democrats. Though politically useful it exposed, in tortured fashion, the fundamental strategic incoherence that has defined the party since President Obama took office in 2009. Despite the simple nature of the proposition -- Should we debate a jobs bill? -- it took Democrats until the 11th hour to round up a bare majority support and avoid shooting the entire party in the foot. And that difficulty bodes poorly for the real, substantive fights -- over taxes, entitlements, the very shape of the country -- that lay ahead between now and the 2012 elections.

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White House

Two Dems Vote With GOP To Kill Obama Jobs Package In Senate

Susan Crabtree | October 11, 2011, 7:50PM

Update: 8:56 p.m. Eastern -- At the last moment, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to "no" after Sen. Shaheen cast a yes vote. Reid altered his position in order to be able to bring the measure to a vote again. The final tally came to 50-49.

Senate Democrats lost a procedural hurdle on President Obama's jobs bill Thursday night, scuttling any progress on passage of the entire package.

As of early evening, Senate Democrats were still holding the vote open for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who had a scheduling conflict and was still in flight when the vote began. With Shaheen's yes vote, Senate Democrats could show a majority of support, 51 votes, for the President's $447m plan to spur economic growth.

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Democratic Governors Association

16 Dem Govs. Pressure Dem Senators Ahead Of Jobs Vote

Susan Crabtree | October 11, 2011, 5:29PM

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-MD)

With President Obama's jobs package facing a handful of Democratic defections in the Senate, the White House released a letter from 16 Democratic governors who are standing squarely behind the bill in a last-ditch lobbying blitz before the Tuesday night vote.

The jobs bill faces almost certain defeat Tuesday night on a procedural motion requiring 60 votes to stop a GOP filibuster. All Republicans are expected to oppose it-- and even a handful of Democratic senators are poised to vote no.

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Barack Obama

White House: Unanimous Dem Support For Jobs Bill Is Not The Right Test

Susan Crabtree | October 11, 2011, 1:28AM

President Barack Obama

The White House is rejecting the notion -- even among senior Democrats -- that the President's jobs bill needs to get unanimous Democratic support when it hits the Senate floor tonight or face criticism that Obama is having a tough time convincing members of his own party about its viability.

"The test is not unanimous support among Democrats," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday morning, noting that rarely does the entire Democratic caucus vote in lockstep on any bill.

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Nuclear Option

GOP Incensed At Reid's 'Tyrannical' Hardball Tactic

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2011, 10:14AM

Harry Reid (D-NV)

As explained at length here, Harry Reid's Thursday night power play set a very narrow new precedent in the Senate. But it was a power play nonetheless. Setting aside its less-than-modest real impact, it required using the same "nuclear option" tactics Republicans threatened in 2005 during the fight over judicial filibusters. If in 2005 the GOP was threatening to detonate a massive H-bomb over a major city, last night Harry Reid set off a rusty old fission devise in the empty desert. Both nukes, very different impacts.

But Republicans are steamed. Steamed doesn't really even begin to describe it. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was practically trembling in anger Thursday night. On Twitter, NRSC chairman John Cornyn (R-TX) called the move "tyranny". And a Senate GOP leadership aide sent me the following remark, suggesting Republicans will remember this whenever they take the majority.

"Democrats are remarkably short-sighted--they forget they'll be in the minority someday and will have to live with THEIR rules," the aide said.

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Mitch McConnell

McConnell Gets His Vote On Obama's Original Jobs Bill...Sorta

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2011, 1:17PM

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Looks like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will get another round of useful jobs bill headlines, that once again obscure the real story.

Recall that on Tuesday, McConnell pushed Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to allow a vote on President Obama's original jobs bill -- no amendments, no real debate -- just a vote on whether to tack it on to the broadly bipartisan Chinese currency legislation the Senate's currently debating.

McConnell knew Reid was tweaking the bill, to coalesce party support for it. He knew that if Reid agreed to vote on the bill Obama sent to Congress, several Dems would defect from it, generating a series of unfortunate headlines for Democrats. And he knew that if Reid blocked the vote (which he did) it would generate a different series of unfortunate headlines for Democrats.

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American Jobs Act

Boehner To Obama: All Roads Lead To Nowhere On Your Jobs Plan

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2011, 8:17AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

GOP Leadership has insisted President Obama's full jobs bill won't get a hearing in the House. But that hasn't deterred Senate Democratic leaders or President Obama, who are still pushing the bill and going through early legislative machinations to at least get members on the record.

To convince Obama how futile this effort is, at least in terms of getting legislation passed, House Speaker John Boehner's office has come up with a new slogan and a snarky infographic to go along with it.

"All Roads": New Infographic Looks at @WhiteHouse Plan to #PassTheBill," reads the Twitter-friendly title of a new post on the Speaker's blog.

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American Jobs Act

White House: How Jobs Plan Is Paid for Is A Sideshow

Susan Crabtree | October 5, 2011, 3:35PM

President Barack Obama

The White House is brushing off all the fuss over Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plans to scrap President Obama's suggested offsets for the Jobs Act before bringing it to the floor for a vote next week.

"The pay-fors are incidental, if you will," Carney told reporters at a Wednesday briefing. "The meat of this proposal is putting teachers back to work...incentivizing small businesses to hire more workers...and that will be voted on. How you pay for it has always been open to debate."

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Bush Tax Cuts

Schumer Adopts GOP Argument Against Obama Tax Plan

Brian Beutler | October 5, 2011, 2:00PM

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

President Obama has made ending the Bush tax on incomes above $250,000 a year a top goal of his presidency. Republicans have predictably fought him at every turn, and used misleading statistics to characterize the plan as one that would cripple small businesses -- when in fact only sliver of the impact would fall on truly small businesses.

Wednesday, those Republicans got a big rhetorical assist from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) -- a member of Democratic leadership, who has been a leading advocate for setting the threshold at $1 million in income.

"There are people making 250, 300 [thousand dollars] in many of our states who are not rich; there are small businesses struggling," Schumer told reporters at a Capitol press conference about Obama's jobs bill. "So we prefer the million dollars."

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Jobs

Reid Casts Doubt On Unanimous Dem Support For Obama Jobs Bill

Brian Beutler | October 5, 2011, 1:27PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)

At a Wednesday Capitol press conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) again couldn't confidently predict that President Obama's jobs bill has the support of the entire Democratic caucus -- even after leadership tweaked some of its controversial measures to broaden party support for the plan.

"I don't know what 'unanimity' means," Reid told reporters. "We'll get most all the Democrats."

Unanimity, of course, means all Democrats -- which will be important. If one or two Democrats defect from the bill, Republicans can (and will) say that the opposition to the plan is bipartisan.

There's a chance that he could unite the party, particularly after replacing Obama's proposed tax measures with a simpler five percent surtax on millionaires to pay for the jobs programs.

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American Jobs Act

Trust Me: Poll Shows Americans Have More Confidence In Obama Than GOP To Create Jobs

Kyle Leighton | October 5, 2011, 9:45AM

President Obama has not had the greatest run in the polls on handling the economy. But new data from ABC News and the Washington Post shows that if Americans have to chose between him and congressional GOP on creating new jobs, then it's not really a contest.

Obama has jumped fifteen points ahead of congressional Republicans on who Americans trust more the create jobs following a Presidential push for his jobs bill and deficit reduction passage. The poll shows that 49 percent of Americans trust Obama more on the issue, while 34 percent go for the congressional GOP. Just a month ago that number was locked at 40 for each, after a summer of downward markets and an almost-default, which was quickly followed up with palatable disgust toward policymakers in Washington.

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Jobs

Dems Float Surtax On Millionaires To Pay For Jobs Bill

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2011, 6:07PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Seeking to consolidate party support for President Obama's jobs bill, Senate Democrats are considering a proposal to impose a five percent surtax on millionaires to pay for the legislation, according to two party aides.

As currently written, Obama wants the joint Super Committee to increase its deficit reduction target by enough to pay for the whole jobs bill. That way its cost could be offset by spending cuts and revenue measures and other reforms that have bipartisan support. But failing that, Obama's bill would trigger a series of new taxes on wealthy Americans, including oil and gas companies, hedge fund managers and others.

This enforcement mechanism caused some strife in the Democratic caucus. Now, driven by party leadership and Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), whose powerful Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the jobs bill, they're considering a simpler, less parochial, and thus less divisive measure.

A Senate Dem aide cautioned that nothing's final yet, and the party could ultimately settle on different measures. And there's a history of broad Democratic support for raising taxes on millionaires.

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Jobs

McConnell Vies For Headlines Over Obama Jobs Bill

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2011, 4:28PM

Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Harry Reid (D-NV)

Mitch McConnell just pulled a made-for-headlines trick on the Senate floor, challenging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to allow an immediate vote on President Obama's jobs bill -- not as a stand-alone measure, but as an amendment to the China currency legislation the Senate is currently debating.

Obama's been demanding that Congress pass his jobs bill day in and day out for weeks, so the tactic had an obvious allure. It wasn't done in the spirit of debating the jobs bill, or even giving it an up or down vote. It was to generate headlines like, "McConnell demands vote on Obama jobs bill" or "Reid blocks vote on Obama jobs bill." Or if Reid had allowed the vote, the headlines could've read "Dems Join Republicans In Rebuffing Obama Jobs Bill."

Pretty clever. But it's not the whole story.

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Jobs

Reid: I Can't Get Unanimous Support From Dems To Use The Bathroom, Let Alone For Obama's Jobs Bill

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2011, 3:45PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Democrats are tweaking President Obama's jobs bill, to consolidate support for it within the caucus. The details of the tweaks haven't been disclosed yet, but the goal is to set it up for a test vote later this month that garners the support of more than 50 senators.

There are 53 Democrats, though, and thanks to Senate filibuster rules, the test vote will be held at a 60-vote threshold. Getting over the 50-vote middle-point will allow Obama to claim that a minority in the Senate is obstructing his plan. But it won't stop Republicans from claiming "bipartisan opposition" to Obama's bill. The only way to do that is to get all 53 members on board.

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Mitch McConnell

McConnell: Congressional Gridlock Is...President Obama's Fault?!

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2011, 1:36PM

Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Here's a novel idea for congressional Republicans: faced with the blame for nearly three years of legislative gridlock, claim that the real fault lies with...President Obama?

Here's Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on the Senate floor Tuesday. "The second reason the White House didn't send these agreements up sooner is that the political operators over at the White House seem to believe that they benefit from the appearance of gridlock," McConnell said. "They're over there telling any reporter who will listen that they plan to run against Congress next year. Their Communications Director said as much to the New York Times two weeks ago. So that's their explicit strategy -- to make people believe that Congress can't get anything done.

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American Jobs Act

Obama To Cantor: Dismantle My Jobs Bill At Your Own Risk

Susan Crabtree | October 3, 2011, 4:59PM

President Barack Obama

The White House Monday continued its war of words with House Republicans over their unwillingness to move his entire jobs package, confidently vowing to let voters decide how to react to Republicans' refusal to pass provisions such as infrastructure spending and retaining teachers.

"Congress can take it up, vote on it...then if there's a desire to take things out, we would accept that although we would not be satisfied by that... [President Obama] would say, 'Where's the rest of it? What about teachers and construction workers...or incentives to hire veterans?" White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters during a briefing Monday.

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Eric Cantor

Cantor To Obama: Let's Chop Up Your Jobs Act

Brian Beutler | October 3, 2011, 1:49PM

Hours after President Obama insisted both the House and Senate vote on his entire jobs bill, a top Republican says that's not gonna happen.

Asked by a reporter for a yes or no answer, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) says the jobs bill, taken as a whole, is kaput.

"The $447 billion jobs package as a package: dead?" the reporter asked.

"Yes," Cantor replied.

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John Boehner

Can Boehner Cement Some Common Ground With Obama?

Susan Crabtree | October 3, 2011, 11:34AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and President Barack Obama

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and the rest of the House GOP leadership team sent a letter to President Barack Obama Monday morning, touting what they say are two areas of common ground between themselves and Obama's jobs package.

Boehner et al are bringing the EPA Regulatory Relief Act and the Cement Sector Regulatory Relief Act, bills that would slash regulations on businesses, to the House floor for votes this week. The EPA bill, which would lift restrictions on boilers used by hospitals, factories and colleges, is likely a non-starter for the administration, which is already under fire from environmental activists for easing new clean air restrictions nearly a month ago.

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