Obama to urge passage of American Jobs Act
President Barack Obama will put Republicans on the spot Thursday night as he introduces his jobs-creation plan before a joint session of Congress, calling on them to “stop the political circus” and take major steps to help improve the economy by approving his $400 billion-plus initiative.
“The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours,” Obama will say, according to excerpts released by the White House ahead of his 7 p.m. ET speech. “The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.”
Continue ReadingThe president will call for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to put country before party as he urges them to pass his plan, the American Jobs Act. Congress, he will say, “should act right away.”
In all, Obama’s proposals will cost more than $400 billion, sources familiar with the proposal told POLITICO. The White House has said he will suggest ways to pay for that spending.
“There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation,” Obama will say in the speech. One bill that Obama has touted for months as having bipartisan support is the America Invents Act, which would overhaul the U.S. patent system. On Thursday afternoon, it passed the Senate 89-9 and now awaits the president’s signature.
Earlier Thursday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he was “hopeful” that the president would not “lay out a position tonight in which we either accept his bill or somehow we’re un-American.” Rather, he said he wanted to work with the president on a plan to create jobs.
“Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans — including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything,” Obama will say, according to the excerpts.
While “Our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers,” he will say, the administration and Congress “can help” and “make a difference.”
Obama’s plan will “put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working” and “create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed.” It will also include tax breaks for companies that hire new workers and will cut payroll taxes for workers and small businesses.
Jonathan Allen and Jake Sherman contributed to this report.
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