President Barack Obama unveiled his so-called “American Jobs Act” to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, September 8. The bill is designed to put Americans back to work during a period when many Americans believe that the country is headed for a double dip recession.
The president’s speech was supposed to restore confidence in America’s economy and address the number one issue on voters’ minds: jobs.
Of the $447 billion plan, $253 billion will go to tax cuts while the remaining $194 billion will specifically target new spending, including infrastructure, modernizing the educational system, surface transportation, and more.
For most Americans, this means payroll tax cuts of 3.1%, $8 billion in tax credits to businesses, $50 billion in immediate funding for highways, transit, rail, and aviation, and working with Fannie and Freddie Mac to lower mortgage plans.
Specifically for education, Obama promised to modernize at least one-third of the nation’s schools and raised the topic of protecting teachers from layoffs and re-employing those teachers who have already been laid off.
In fact, Obama’s plan intends to duplicate a program in Georgia that has given thousands of unemployed retraining for new careers throughout the country in order to retool America’s workforce. One anonymous sophomore said, “I’m glad Obama is doing something for schools instead of people on Wall Street.”
The plan is to be fully paid for through additional spending cuts by the so-called “super-committee” of Republicans and Democrats so that it will not add to the national debt in an attempt to placate Tea Party Republicans. Senior Chris Langer said, “I’m glad Obama put the deficit reduction part into his speech, but I’m not sure whether it will work or not.”
Reactions from Republicans have been mixed. Some, like Presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann, have rejected the plan outright, while other Republicans have expressed a willingness to work with the President to pass the bill. Freshman Laura Whitfield feels that, “Congress shouldn’t pass the bill because it’s just more spending that doesn’t work, like the stimulus.”
The most likely outcome of the President’s bill is that parts of it will be passed by the House and Senate, who wish to be seen as doing something about jobs, but it remains to be seen whether the fight over which parts of the bill to pass will be as politically bruising as the debt ceiling debate.
Most Americans agree, according to the latest Gallup survey, that jobs are the most important issue. Indeed, with a new election cycle coming up the political stakes are high with this plan.