Editor’s Note– From podium to plane, the White House Jobs Bill speeches fly through the microphones in cities going from East to West and back again, but it seems that no one in Washington DC is listening or buying in. The Jobs Bill was dead on arrival, and one could tell because Obama himself was already casting the Congress as a “Do Nothing” institution so he could claim the high ground as he stumps across the country. The straw man has been set in place, and even the Democrats can see it.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin
The Senate does not have the votes, so why no support for the Obama Jobs Bill?
Three key reasons include:
- A tax increase on the wealthy, the job creators;
- an extension of unemployment benefits and;
- higher spending on America’s infrastructure.
America will soon be arriving at election in time for key Senators and yes, they don’t want to go back into their districts asking for money and votes when another key component of the Jobs Bill is to eliminate subsidies for oil. It all comes down to elections, money, and votes. The jobs really don’t make the short list. Does anyone inside the Beltway even understand that when government gets out of capitalism and offers a positive landscape for business including a major sense of confidence, Help Wanted signs will reappear?
Durbin says Democrats don’t currently have the votes for Obama jobs bill
From The Hill
By Daniel Strauss
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said, at the moment, Democrats in Congress don’t have the votes to pass President Obama’s jobs bill, but Durbin added that that situation would change.
“Not at the moment, I don’t think we do, but, uh, we can work on it,” Durbin said, according to Chicago radio station WLS.
President Obama has been calling for Congress to pass his American Jobs Act since legislators returned from their August recess. The jobs plan is made up of a combination of tax increases on the wealthy, new infrastructure spending, an extension of the employee payroll-tax cut and additional funding for unemployment insurance benefits.
Republicans have voiced opposition to the plan, albeit less than with other pieces of legislation Democrats have proposed recently.
Durbin added that the president’s bill would need bipartisan support because there are senators both on the left and the right opposed to aspects of it.
“The oil-producing-state senators don’t like eliminating or reducing the subsidy for oil companies,” Durbin said. “There are some senators who are up for election who say ‘I’m never gonna vote for a tax increase while I’m up for election, even on the wealthiest people.’ So, we’re not gonna have 100 percent of Democratic senators. That’s why it needs to be bipartisan and I hope we can find some Republicans who will join us to make it happen.”
