Obama's Jobs Speech

Last Thursday, President Obama offered up his latest stimulus package. It consisted of three essential points, all of which represent attempts already taken. More shovel-ready jobs (devoted mostly to unions, shovel-ready which even Obama joked about earlier), extending the payroll tax reduction (that has been in place since last year) for another year, and repeating a tax credit proposal for employing an applicant who has been unemployed for more than six months (which many believe has very little promise of impacting long term hiring).

During the speech he did not disclose any costs, which top $447 billion, but did make 17 demands to "pass this bill"—a bill that wasn't even available until Monday, after his Rose Garden update, and as of Tuesday has still not been submitted by any Democratic congressman. In his Thursday speech he basically passed the buck to determine how pay for it to the Congress.

"The agreement we passed in July will cut government spending by about $1 trillion over the next 10 years. It also charges this Congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. Tonight, I’m asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the American Jobs Act."

He added in his Rose Garden speech:

"And the American Jobs Act is not going to add to the debt — it’s fully paid for. I want to repeat that. It is fully paid for. (Laughter.) It’s not going to add a dime to the deficit."

Since then he has reversed again and returns to advocating the tax the rich solution that has been shown to be woefully inadequate. The really glaring omission in his speech was no mention at all of the biggest opportunity for increasing jobs— the energy industry. Probably the biggest reason for that is that the day he was giving his speech, the FBI was raiding Obama's green industry darling Solyndra.

Rep Betty McCollum gave her response to President Obama's jobs speech in an MPR article:

WASHINGTON - Before a special joint session of a bitterly divided Congress, President Obama laid out his agenda for creating jobs and reducing unemployment through a $450 billion package of targeted tax cuts and infrastructure investments.

And for an example of why there is such bitter divide Rep. Betty McCollum offered this advice:

Rep. Betty McCollum - "For the past eight months, the world has witnessed an out-of-control Tea Party majority in Congress, harming our economy and stalling job growth with their posturing and political games," said McCollum, a liberal DFL member from St. Paul, in a written statement. "The American people want jobs, not dangerous and harmful Tea Party schemes to protect polluters, bust unions, eliminate Medicare, and outsource more jobs."

That Betty McCollum and Barack Obama (is that redundant?) are outstanding Union supporters is no surprise to anyone. That she should use such a demogogic statement to malign those who are trying honestly to correct the financial morass we are in, is simply poor judgement. The evidence for "out-of-control" behavior is apparently that the Tea Party opposes the economic ideology of Keynes and the profligate spending that Washington is known for, and in particular the liberal DFL side of the ideological world. Meanwhile the evidence for "out-of-control" behavior by their favored Unions and those who oppose the ideology of the Tea Party is rampant.

Longshoremen storm port, take six security guards hostage for several hours

One sergeant was threatened with baseball bats and retreated, Duscha said. “One officer with hundreds of Longshoremen? He used the better part of discretion.”

Labor Army Goes To War

"Hey, remember when Jimmy Hoffa Jr. pledged that his union “army” would take out those “sons of bitches” in the Tea Party? Well, you can’t just jump into battle without tuning up a little first. The labor movement apparently decided to fight its first skirmish in Longview, Washington, where the ILWU seized grain and hostages while wreaking havoc at a rail yard."

Union Protests Result In Arrests, Train Damage And Dumped Grain

Sept. 8, 2011 "Approximately 500 Longshoremen protesters went to the EGT property, entered that property, damaged windows in the guard shack, pushed a private security vehicle into a ditch," Duscha said.
Duscha says boxcars were damaged and had grain dumped from them.
...
Union leaders and supporters say the actions reflect members' frustration.

Verizon damage disrupts emergency calls; workers on strike

Clad in red shirts, the workers held up signs that read, "CWA on Strike Against Verizon’s Corporate Greed," and cheered as honking cars passed by.
Matt Gates is one of the striking Verizon employees.
"Being out here—they didn't leave us a choice. They didn't want to bargain. We want to make sure everyone’s aware that corporate greed has to stop."

When the country is looking to our leaders to create an environment where jobs can grow, we expect plans that really have a chance of improving the economy, not simply retreads and name calling. Emphasis needs to be placed on finding out what businesses need! Improving the economy so companies will have the demand to create jobs to bring us back to work. President Obama made one statement Thursday that really was on target, and does a great job of summing up. If he and Betty McCollum only listen to it, instead of  seeking scores for political rhetoric.

Those of us here tonight can’t solve all of our nation’s woes. Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives.

It's just critical to get the right kind of help. So far this proposal does not look like they have.