Obama's Jobs DOA buried with his Obamacare, Obamanomics and Obama Birth Certificate or another one for the trash can
Obama's Jobs DOA buried with his Obamacare, Obamanomics and Obama Birth Certificate or another one for the trash can.
Obama's Jobs Agenda For Congress: Does It Actually Create Jobs?
Congress.8/15/11 02:40 PM ET Updated: 8/15/11 07:11 PM ET WASHINGTON --
It's become almost daily practice for President Barack Obama to point out the four things he says Congress can pass now to create jobs "immediately," if only lawmakers would act: infrastructure investments, patent reform, free trade deals and a payroll tax cut extension.
But even if all four proposals became law -- a huge "if" with a dug-in House GOP -- it's not clear they would actually create jobs. In fact, the proposals with the best shot of passing Congress appear the least likely to create jobs. One of the most likely to pass, the trade pacts, will probably cost jobs.
Obama has been injecting new urgency into the measures since early July, when he spoke during a press conference that coincided with a dismal monthly jobs report.
"There are bills and trade agreements before Congress right now that could get all these ideas moving," he said at the time. "All of them have bipartisan support. All of them could pass immediately. And I urge Congress not to wait."
He ran through all of the proposals again during a Monday town hall in Minnesota, the first of several to come as part of his Midwest bus tour on the economy this week.
"There is no shortage of ideas to put people to work right now," he told the crowd. "What is needed is action on the part of Congress. A willingness to put the partisan games aside and say, 'We're going to do what's right for the country, not what we think is going to score some political points for the next election.'"
Here's an overview of how each proposal would create jobs, or not, and where it stands in Congress.
The White House is most vocal about the need for Congress to pass free trade agreements for Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Passage of these deals would "help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America, supporting thousands of jobs here at home," Obama has said.
A senior Democratic aide clarified that trade deals "won't create jobs directly," but that it would give a needed boost to the economy "by pressing up on the demand for a broad range of consumer goods."
The part you won't hear the White House talking about is the number of Americans who could actually lose their jobs as a result of the deals. Some economists estimate that more than 200,000 American jobs could be shipped overseas as the U.S. looks to its new trade partners to carry out manufacturing work for cheaper rates.
For now, the three trade deals remain in a peculiar state of limbo: the White House has yet to formally submit them to Congress, but keeps calling on Congress to pass them. And GOP leaders, who support passage of the deals, keep responding that they can't pass them until the White House sends them over.
The sticking point? The White House wants GOP leaders to first agree to attach a Trade Adjustment Assistance plan to the deals. Republicans oppose adding the TAA proposal, which would provide job training to U.S. workers who lose their jobs due to trade.
"They added TAA as a precondition a couple months ago; it was never a precondition before then," said a senior GOP aide.
But House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) recently "worked out a compromise and there are at least 60 votes for it (and the White House knows that). It's anyone's guess why they're still holding out."
For all the back and forth between the White House and Republican leaders, the three trade deals -- along with some type of deal on TAA -- are expected to come to a vote in September.