President Obama challenges Congress. Last night - the President pitched his much anticipated jobs plan to a joint-session of Congress - calling on Members to immediately pass what he's calling "The American Jobs Act" - a $447 billion proposal - filled mostly with $250 billion worth of tax cuts - with the rest of the money going toward infrastructure spending - aid to states - and an extension of unemployment benefits. The President hammered home the point that these are all proposals that have garnered bipartisan support in the past - and there's no reason why Republicans shouldn't support them this time around.
As for how this bill will be paid for - the President outsourced that decision to the Gang of 12 - calling on them to find an addition $447 billion worth of cuts or revenue raisers in addition to the $1.5 trillion they're already tasked with finding. But the President did say he hopes they looked toward raising revenue from the wealthiest in America - people like Warren Buffett who pay a lower tax rate than his secretary - to cover part of the cost of the jobs bill. He also called for cuts - or in his words "modest adjustments" - to Medicare and Medicaid too. As for the tone - the President was nearly pitch-perfect - and finally showing some of the fight many progressives have been waiting to see.
Now the big question - will Republicans say "Yes"? If they do, they take away the President's ability to play Harry Truman and run against a do-nothing Congress, and the economy will still be in bad shape. If they say "No," they hand Obama a big club to use against them. The worst scenario? They say "yes" to parts of it, he caves in and compromises for a weaker bill, so the economy still sucks next year, but he can no longer run against Congress. This is starting to get interesting.
-Thom
(What do you think will happen? Tell us here.)
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