Source:
CBS NewsPresident Barack Obama's jobs bill, facing a critical test in the Senate, it appears likely to die at the hands of Republicans opposed to stimulus spending and a tax surcharge on millionaires.
Obama has been waging a campaign-style effort seeking to rally public support behind the $447 billion measure, which will be the subject of a Senate vote Tuesday. The plan combines payroll tax cuts for workers and businesses with $175 billion in spending on roads, school repairs and other infrastructure, as well as unemployment assistance and help to local governments to avoid layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers.
The key elements of the jobs package reprise parts of Obama's $800 billion-plus 2009 stimulus measure and a Social Security payroll tax cut enacted last year.
Unlike the controversial stimulus bill, the jobs measure would be financed by a 5.6 percent surcharge on income exceeding $1 million that raises more than $450 billion over a decade.
In making the case for the bill, the White House cites economists like Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics, who predicts that the measure would add 2 percentage points of growth to the economy, add 1.9 million payroll jobs, and reduce unemployment by a percentage point. But Republicans point to optimistic predictions about the 2009 measure that didn't come to pass; unemployment hovers just above 9 percent nationwide.Read more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/11/ap/business/main20118458.shtml
The question is whether Republicans will be held accountable for turning the 112th Congress into the worst Congress ever. The Republicans and the corporate media push the talking point that the President has not acted to reduce unemployment. Yet, this ignores the role of Congress and the complete failure of Congressional Republicans to take any action except to try to protect the top 1 percent.
Several historians and commentators have noted that the 112th Congress has set historical lows in terms of bills passed. The House Republicans have actively attempted to tank the economy with the debt ceiling fight as well as they promises to vote down President Obama's jobs bill. Even on DU, some folks who once demanded that the President hold firm, are now attacking the President for refusing to compromise by submitting a bill that he knows that Republicans will never accept.
In other words, the corporate media controls the narrative, and does not permit folks to hold Republicans accountable. You may blame Democrats, but you must give Republicans a free pass. And, when you give Republicans a free pass, you must blame Democrats for doing this.
Notice how the Tea Party protestors were portrayed as patriots while OWS protesters are portrayed as hoodlums. Its the corporate media narrative. We need to start laying down what we expect, and see which candidates come to the table and support what we stand for.
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