Community | September 08, 2011 | 199 comments

The American Jobs Act, Summarized

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letsliveinpeace
Here is a summary of the American Jobs Act that the White House is putting out. I don’t have a ton of time to analyze it right now, but much of it will be familiar, albeit with a few new wrinkles. There’s $35 billion for state fiscal aid, which is somewhat robust and good bang for the buck in terms of saving jobs. All in all there’s $105 billion in infrastructure/public works (that includes a replenishing of the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which helps address the foreclosure crisis). And there’s an attempt to restart the TANF Emegency Fund with $5 billion or so. That’s on top of the $170 billion for the payroll tax cut and extending unemployment insurance. So all in all, back of the envelope says about $315 billion.

UPDATE: There are apparently a couple things missing from this, which could add to the cost by as much as another $100 billion. There’s an employer-side payroll tax cut component for small businesss, up to 3% with a limit on the first $5 million. There would also be a tax break for hiring new employees, a tax break for hiring long-term unemployed or veterans, and 100% expensing of business equipment and costs. So most of the additional spending is on the tax side. I haven’t seen a breakdown of that total cost, though it sounds extensive.

I’ll put the summary here, and on the flip some excerpts from the speech.

American Jobs Act – President will lay out the details tonight and will submit the actual legislation next week. He’ll call on Congress to pass it immediately.

There are five major categories:

1) Tax Cuts for Small Business
a. Payroll Tax Cut

2) Putting Workers Back On the Job
a. Fund to prevent teacher layoffs and first responder layoffs – $35 billion. $30 billion would be used to prevent teacher layoffs and would be distributed using Title I formula and not given to Governors with great discretion as was done before. $5 billion for first responders to be distributed through COPS and Safer Communities

3) Rebuilding America
a. $30 billion investment in School Construction – to be distributed to the 100 neediest school districts
b. $50 billion in infrastructure – $5 billion for TIGER IV and TIFIA
c. $10 billion for an infrastructure bank – open to projects from both the public and private sectors
d. $15 billion for Project Rebuild – formerly Neighborhood Stabilization – addressing foreclosures and vacant commercial properties
4) Pathways Back to Work – $5 billion
a. Extend UI
b. 1/3 summer jobs; 1/3 TANFF Emergency and 1/3 Innovation Fund for Training
5) Plan is fully paid for.
a. President will look to the Super Committee to identify $1.5 Trillion plus additional savings which will pay for the plan.

Here are some excerpts from the speech:
The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities. The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.
Those of us here tonight cannot 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.
I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away. It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.
The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away.
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199 comments // The American Jobs Act, Summarized

  • DDJohnAdams
  • joeredford
  • DDJohnAdams
  • joeredford
    • +1
      joeredford [removed]  
    • DDJohnAdams:

      I have heard more than enough hot air out of you, I don't need to go to a site called hot air for more. Besides , I can no longer speak to you , your dead ancestor says so.

      " I must not write to you about politics because you are a woman."--John Adams

    • 9 months ago
  • mercyhwetin88
    • +1
      mercyhwetin88  

    • hello, I'm mercy hwetin Recently moved from Iowa, originally from Denver and grew up there.

      I have an awesome family,I prefer all hot weather , specially the summer and the heat.

      Networking has been a part of my life for the last few years and most recently primarily on the Web.

      I love to learn new things.

      With the economy as tough as it is right now, more and more people are seeking guidance from people who have walked the walk and can teach others how to benefit from what they went through. Just ask if you need to know something from me.

      I am a manager in the field of Science and Engineering project management.

      I am sharing my websites , helicopter ride nyc new york helicopter tours nyc helicopter ride

      I love to ask questions

      I volunteer for valid causes that help children.

      Glad to be a part of this site and Will learn something new here.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • Paratus
    • -1
      Paratus  
    • Image

    • http://www.cnbc.com/id/44465169
      Some excerpts from this link:

      "The dismal state of the economy is the main reason many companies are reluctant to hire workers, and few executives are saying that President Obama’s jobs plan — while welcomed — will change their minds any time soon."

      "Companies are focused on jittery consumer confidence, an unstable stock market, perceived obstacles to business expansion like government regulation and, above all, swings in demand for their products."

      I have said before that one of the problems with todays business environment is government regulation, of course that has not gone unnoticed by some members here who demonstrate their zeal in opposition by telling me how wrong I am, but it seems that Obummers plan, not yet on paper, has an uphill fight for acceptance. He did have some good ideas in his speech but I don't think t went far enough. He still needs to get the gov. out of the way.

    • 9 months ago
  • DDJohnAdams
  • Mark701
    • +3
      Mark701  
    • Paratus:

      People here question your observations because they ARE wrong. The problem with the economy is corporate outsourcing. A personal example-My brother works for ATI (video cards). In 2008 when the housing bubble popped ATI employees were asked to take a 10% pay cut and the company stopped contributing to their 401Ks. As the economy began to improve, the positions lost in the US were sent to China. Now multiply the actions of this single company and you have 19 million people looking for jobs. The people whose jobs were outsourced are collecting UI, contributing less in taxes and less to the economy. In our consumer driven economy,less spending causes jittery consumer confidence, unstable stock markets, decreased government revenue to states which cause even more layoffs and problems, etc. etc. etc.

      The net result is that the current abysmal state of the economy is a self inflicted wound caused by the "free-market".

      Also when government "gets out of the way" things like the housing bubble happen. I'd speculate that the only reason our economy hasn't collapsed into dust is BECAUSE of government regulation. When the "free-market" is left to do things on their own things like the Great Depression and Great Recession are the result.

    • 9 months ago
  • JamesS12
    • -1
      JamesS12  

    • a. President will look to the Super Committee to identify $1.5 Trillion plus additional savings which will pay for the plan.
      ---------
      Yea, I wonder how that will turn out? There was a new terrorist threat issued so we can't cut military. raise taxes? Pleeeaaaassseee!! The thing that will be cut most is our safety nets, but lets ignore that fact so we can continue having this feel-good memory of the 08 campaign.

      It's so funny and somewhat sickening how the obamacrats can't see the truth that's right in front of their eyes.

      I think it all goes back to immaturity, weakness, and stupidity.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
    • +3
      SFirman  
    • JamesS12:

      I am neither immature,weak or stupid.. If the shoe fits wear it. Obama didn't say anything about safety nets. The payroll tax cut is for another year. Money in pockets. When people are working more will go into SS .If you don't think Medicare and Medicaid needs some reform , you haven't paid attention. I've heard this before Obama. We are paying out more than is coming in. Without some reform future generations won't have it. It is you that can't see the truth.

    • 9 months ago
  • JamesS12
    • -3
      JamesS12  
    • SFirman:

      Do you think any politician in office will have the courage to end the payroll tax cuts once they expire? Come on now. I wish you were right but Obama and the dems lack courage. They couldn't even repeal the Disastrous Bush tax cuts. I agree that medicare and medicaid need reforming but do you honestly think they will reform it for the better?

      Reform and strengthen are key words that really mean cut and weaken.

      BTW-I wasn't calling you weak, stupid, or immature.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
    • +2
      SFirman  
    • JamesS12:

      Ending the payroll tax cuts at the end of 2012, if they are renewed, will depend on the economy and jobs. This is only my opinion. Obama will take care of what needs done if re-elected. If one of the misfit Republicans that are running, get in office, you can forget about having any safty nets. They have always hated them. It is only because of Dems that Bush didn't put SS in the Wall Street Banks. Renewing unemployment, middle class tax cuts were more important then letting Bush Tax cuts expire. He thought more of the middle class and unemployed. That was courage. He will let them go at the end of 2012. Of coarse if Rep. get in they will be permanent. I don't know what reforms need made to Medicare and Medicaid to save it and neither do you,, but Obama is a Dem. He won't hurt the seniors.

    • 9 months ago
  • JamesS12
    • -3
      JamesS12  

    • Obama endorses slavery in Georgia? I think the prez has father-abandonment issues. Obama is the best republican that republicans can hope for.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • JamesS12
  • SFirman
  • joeredford
  • DDJohnAdams
    • -5
      DDJohnAdams  

    • Obama:Country before Party - NONSENSE

      News reports suggest that on Thursday night, the president will tell Republicans in the House and Senate that they should put “country before party” and endorse his proposals for job creation. The “country before party” line has become Obama’s new theme in the wake of the debt crisis, and the passion with which he invokes it indicates it’s something he actually and truly believes in.

      And it’s utter nonsense. Offensive nonsense too. Obama isn’t truly asking Republicans to put country before party. He is asking them to elevate the interests and ideas of the Democratic party higher than their own ideas, their sense of what is best for the nation, and their deeply held convictions about the moral hazard posed by a too-large government and a populace too reliant on it. They won’t do it, and they shouldn’t, and the next time liberals complain that conservatives unfairly impugn their patriotism, Obama’s effort to do just that with his loyal ideological opposition should be thrown in their face.
      http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/09/05/obamas-country-before-party-nonsens...

    • 9 months ago
  • StandaboveUnderstand
    • +2
      StandaboveUnderstand  

    • The fact that its going to be payed for from the super committees cuts is the key to bill . See that takes all the super from the super committee making it so all the cuts that hurt are on thing not in this bill like are war budget .

    • 9 months ago
  • Paratus
    • -5
      Paratus  

    • I want to see the "Act" in bill form along with specifics as as to how it will be paid for. The devil is in the details and we should not do anything until someone brings it to the House floor.

    • 9 months ago
  • joeredford
  • DDJohnAdams
    • 0
      DDJohnAdams  
    • Paratus:

      Aw Paratus - voice a little reason about responsibility (this time to pay for what Obama promises) and look at all the down votes you get! Are there just spoiled children throwing tantrums on this site?
      Nice to see there are some adults in the room (you!).

    • 9 months ago
  • DDJohnAdams
  • tverdell
    • -4
      tverdell  
    • DDJohnAdams:

      In addition to what the article said, why won't employers just continue to get free labor. After the 6 months are over, just get the next sucker.

      Also, giving a tax break for hiring people who have been on unemployment longer just means that they will get a job over the newly unemployed.

      Where is the net gain?

    • 9 months ago
  • KurtLewin
  • KurtLewin
  • ThrowtheMarxistsOut2012
  • SFirman
  • ThrowtheMarxistsOut2012
    • -6
      ThrowtheMarxistsOut2012  
    • SFirman:

      No going to the job is for working people. Unions are for lazy democrats and liberals that picket, protest, and/or take hostages instead of working, because they are upset about losing a vacation day in their new contract.

    • 9 months ago
  • wally60
  • SFirman
    • +4
      SFirman  
    • ThrowtheMarxistsOut2012:

      Without unions, going to the job does not mean fair wages, benefits that unions fight for. Without them there would be no minium wage. That is their right thanks to unions. Democrats lazy? The Republican House only works three out of four weeks. Lazy Republicans!

    • 9 months ago
  • Joeydee44
  • Joeydee44
  • wolfess
    • +3
      wolfess  
    • Joeydee44:

      Actually I think he sounds like Warren Merrill; AND like some doddering old fool on social security that has nothing better to do EVERY day but cause trouble online.

    • 9 months ago
  • richardparks
  • Warren_Merrill
  • Joeydee44
  • JamesS12
    • -2
      JamesS12  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      He already stated that he would pay for it with medicare and medicaid cuts. It's funny that he will pay for something temporary with permanent cuts to our safety nets.

      I can't believe Obama is so obsessed with cuts to social security, medicare, and medicaid. Democrats should ponder that for a while. He'll use every chance he gets to put them on the chopping block.

    • 9 months ago
  • JamesS12
    • +1
      JamesS12  

    • To summarize the bill would be equating it to something my cat threw up. Its mostly tax cut for the wealthy and half measures. Is it me or did obama say he wuold pay for ths by cutting SS and Medicare? Oh thats right...he said he was "reforming to strengthen" them. Thats DC speak for sending grandma to dumpster-diving 101. No wonder obama's support is tanking.

    • 9 months ago
  • msbadger
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/09/08/08climatewire-in-jobs-speech-a-test-for-...

      In Jobs Speech, A Test For Obama On Clean Energy

      President Obama's jobs speech tonight is seen by some as a symbol of his commitment to clean energy -- and a gauge of his willingness to defend the emerging industry against Republican ridicule.

      It comes as the White House is signaling a retooled emphasis on "old school" highway jobs, as one Republican strategist said approvingly, to caffeinate national employment and consumer spending.

      But there's a bigger employment picture that some advocates hope is not lost in Obama's focus on attaining immediate jobs. The idea that he might shuffle away from his pledge to "win the future" with innovative technologies -- his central employment pitch this year -- frustrates environmentalists who point to strong public support for renewable energy.

      There's also concern that Obama is allowing House Republicans to shape his employment approach. Seeking bipartisan compromise could compress the president's vision for clean energy, they say. The risk is that Republicans will reject Obama's compromised terms, providing losses legislatively and in the battle for ideas.

      "The president shouldn't shy away from an investment in this arena," said Neera Tanden, chief operating officer of the Center for American Progress and a former policy adviser to the Obama administration. "He should put forward proposals regardless of whether the House would immediately pass them or not. He should put forward proposals that make sense."

      Striking a deal with the House could mean that the president adheres to "a very limited vision" for the nation's economic recovery, added Tanden, saying Obama could include clean energy projects in the infrastructure bank he's expected to unveil tonight.

      "He can't be so confined," she said. "He has to have an argument with the American people about what we should be doing now, and what we should be doing next year, and what we should be doing in the future."

      more at the link.

    • 9 months ago
  • DDJohnAdams
  • DDJohnAdams
  • SFirman
  • Joeydee44
  • lazloman
    • +4
      lazloman  

    • I hate to say this but, based on past history, what will happen is that the rethuglicans will hold out until all the spending is removed and only the tax cuts are applied. The President will fold again and the bill will pass.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
    • +4
      SFirman  
    • lazloman:

      I never expected the Republicans to go for spending, but we need the tax cuts for the middle class and small business. You do know for spending the house has to vote for it. They don't want jobs created. I just hope he gets all the tax cuts and extention of unemployment. We have to spend to create jobs. The president has no control over Boner and his misfits.That includes closing loopholes.

    • 9 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • mitekillem
    • +6
      mitekillem  

    • No matter what the president does, it will be viewed as either Radical or Insufficient. It's almost as if the only "logical" solution is a Republican Solution. i.e. Cut Taxes, Cut Spending, Reduce benefits to the non-rich, and cut government jobs.
      -There really just seems to be no support for the president right now, and the right is gaining momentum on ridiculous policies and ideals which will further plummet the nation into a depression.
      The Government is neither causing this, nor helping it.

      1. Jobs are going overseas.
      2. The lack of jobs in the US is causing people to go on Unemployment.
      3. The more consumers who lose their jobs, the less luxury/non-essential products are sold. i.e. people will buy less TVs and iPhones.
      4. Loss of production will cause more lay-offs.
      5. Companies will look to recover their losses by hiring cheaper labor (overseas).
      6. Repeat.

      -No body is doing jack-sh!t to stop the US from bleeding jobs.
      Neither are they doing anything to keep tax revenue made in the US, or by US companies in the country. Thus, we are also bleeding tax revenue money.
      Not only from the tax breaks we give away, but from the taxes the Republicans won't allow us to collect.

      Unfortunately, the only way to disprove the failed policies of the right, is to allow them to continue, until the dumbest among us has no choice but to concede the truth.

    • 9 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
  • Ambill94
    • +3
      Ambill94  
    • mitekillem:

      Much of what you say is true...However I would really like to see the President put a truly radical solution forward for once; something to match the rhetoric of his campaign.

    • 9 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • DDJohnAdams
  • DDJohnAdams
  • harleyblueswoman
  • mrtraffic
  • harleyblueswoman
    • +4
      harleyblueswoman  

    • I think it is a good start....and the President has to work his way up to bigger and better things ....and he can do this if he brings this to the people and gets their support....then he can move to more issues that need addressed....he is going up against a brick wall to begin with because the nutcases aren't going to be happy about doing anything that makes the President look good!! So maybe if he can get the people behind him with enough pressure from us.....something will come of all this!! I feel he has started with things and in such a way that the nutcases will be backed into a corner and be forced to agree to a few things for a change if the people are backing the President!! When you have a Congress filled with lunatics and nutcases, it makes it hard to get anything done!!!!

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • wynnmeg61
    • +5
      wynnmeg61  
    • harleyblueswoman:

      The only way the president will be able to implement a real jobs plan will require the american people to get out and vote for their own best interest. I don't see too many thoughtful voters out there. I see lots and lots of working class and middle class folks being bled to death but voting for Republicans or "Conservative Democrats" (which is the same thing) I expect that we will have to slide all the way to Depression before the people wake up.

    • 9 months ago
  • wynnmeg61
    • +4
      wynnmeg61  
    • SFirman:

      We would have to fire not only the teapartiers, but the conservative democrats and the wallstreeter types too. I wish for such, but I don't see much motivation from the people. The far left is supporting the GOP by way of apathy and splintering.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • SFirman
  • wally60
    • +1
      wally60  
    • wynnmeg61:

      we will have to lose monday night football and budwiser before they will wake up.
      the end is near our goverment for the past 20 years have hosed it to a point of no return
      prepare any way you can.

    • 9 months ago
  • gatormouth
    • -1
      gatormouth  

    • Still a supporter of the Bush Trade Policies, still a "Free" Trader. Why is he tying our economy to these failed self destructiv­e policies? He seems to either not get it or to be on some kind of a leash to Corporate interests. Free Trade in a ruthlessly competitiv­e world is unilateral disarmamen­t. Skilled jobs, investment capital, and new industries created will continue to be bled off and trickle down abroad until the holes in the bucket of laws keeping them here are repaired.

    • 9 months ago
  • RaceBannon
    • -1
      RaceBannon  

    • pretty lame spectacle, cut payroll taxes (most of which goes to social services)

      well listen guys we tried, the US was a nice country. I would advise anyone who cares to start preserving the literary works we have accumulated during our time so future societies can face palm for ages to come when they realize we had a fella called Mark Twain.

    • 9 months ago
  • RaceBannon
  • LiberalSaviour
    • +9
      LiberalSaviour  
    • Image

    • The American Dream :
      ''''''''''­''''''''''­''''''''''­''''''''''­'''''''
      The dream seems to be a hijacked republican one , because one wonders why so many people still vote against their own interests by doing so. A tax cut that works out to some extra gas money and a few nights out to dinner equates to multiple houses for the ultra rich. So many still have the dream that they will be part of the upper class at some point that it almost seems like scratching a lottery ticket when marking the x down beside the R in the polling booth.

      In our 24\7 reality programmed world that seems to only function with divide and conquer commercial­ism within it's ads sphere , the need to flesh out that dream is more than ever.

      We need to stop dealing in hypothetic­als whereas people stand up in a 30 second spot and point fingers at people and lay blame while extolling that some magical dream is being taken away , when so many people feel that it was never there to begin with.

      People at the heart of it want just a comfortabl­e life and want to know that their efforts paved the way for their kids.

      SIMPLE.

      Show that ...empower that ...praise that .
      It may not be the rah rah and fireworks example , but that is what people hunger for .

      The true reality ( and what liberals fight for daily for ALL)

    • 9 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
  • Vic_Romano
    • +1
      Vic_Romano  

    • So, I kind of like Ron Paul's notion (or should I just put my own spin on the subject, as I have fundamental disagreements with his real views) of cutting overseas empire spending to fund programs like this jobs program here at home.

      Just end the fucking wars and foreign bribes and use the savings to fund this and pay down the debt.

    • 9 months ago
  • tverdell
  • Fishinflick
    • -4
      Fishinflick  

    • Hey where does one apply for the most secure gov't job of all - as a tax/spending-cutter? My resume is terrific, I started cutting lawns at 9 years old, gave myself some really bad haircuts over the years and am willing to learn how to cut the cake! I can also learn to cut out the liberal BS, after all - stealing from grannie is no different than slipping a nickel out of mom's purse...

      Seriously, do you believe, despite the show of passion in this re-el-auction speech, that more tax-cuts, more spending cuts - which is what the bulk of this act is, will create jobs? If you want to turn blue - hold your breath. If you want to drop dead - turn to the red. For my money this speech is a sickly shade of royal purple I know all too well.

      This bit of political theater kicks off a fun-filled weekend of terror-warnings, with ads for a movie about a mass killer epidemic in paranoid propinquity to said grave warnings, and an intense tsunami of 9/11 political manipulation coming in waves to sweep us out into a sea of nationalistic nihilism.

    • 9 months ago
  • JanforGore
    • +2
      JanforGore  

    • "President will look to the Super Committee to identify $1.5 Trillion plus additional savings which will pay for the plan."

      Sorry, he missed his "Roosevelt" moment. Why does it have to go to the "Super Committee" first of all and not the entire Congress? There's the tie in to cutting Medicare and using unemployment to do it. Wow politicians are slick aren't they? They want to make you think they are giving you something on one hand while taking it away with the other. Hmm, and no specific plan to create clean energy jobs? We need to bring manufacturing back and this is the market to do it in! How about reforestation? Sustainable agriculture? But then, he'll probably approve the XL pipeline so I guess he doesn't want to look like an envionmental hypocrite, and of course, you can't suggest anything that the almighty Republicanbagger machine will not like because you just might have to FIGHT for what you believe in and what is right. Can't have that now can we?

      And cutting this and that for business, will it really make jobs? Hasn't that been tried before? Shouldn't there be some sort of stipulation that they only get cuts in any kind of tax if they can show they used it to actually create jobs and not take another vacation? And no mention of cutting the military budget either. Just close all of the bases we have around the world and use that money. But no, the goal is to take away Medicare and they will use us to do it. How many people desperate for a job to pay their mortgage and eat would turn down a job even if it means it takes from their Medicare?"

      Oh, and President Obama, the "Super Committee" is unconstitutional. I don't abide by anything they say.

      In the end it may create some temporary jobs, but I know this is really just a competition between him and the do nothing Republicans in an election season, so on the whole I'm not taking this with any real seriousness. It is going to take real vision to move us forward, not doing the same thing expecting a different result.
      _______________
      edit:
      It would seem the same Obama supporters (?) keep voting down valid comments on these threads as well as other groups. This "either you are with us or against us" mentality is no different than what Bush goosesteppers were shoving down our throats. Excuse me for giving a GD about this country and environment and how this Congress has now been co opted by Fascist "Super Committees" and corporate wraiths and not being a soldier who marches in lockstep. Voting down legitimate comments on policy and his own speeches also doesn't change that. Now vote that down too, coward (s).

    • 9 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      The Romans had it good; they had glorious coliseums and chariot races. You have described a sack race where everybody's legs are inside the sack... pulling one's employment today from their own Medicare tomorrow. That's borrow from Paul to pay Paul in anybody's book.

      Contestants line up! Sack race began:YESTERDAY. KER-THUMP

      That being said, this wiley old fox president has an ace up his sleeve and getting ready to toss it on the pile, and take the table. Green Jobs was a "juicy a meat ball" to get elected. HAHAHAHA The lady wore a wig, padded bra and MUCH MAKE-UP EH? HAHAHA DC => the best Vegas in town. Yeah Jan, you were hoodwinked. Green is a disappearing act. Poof, Gone, no lo contendre or something.

      Environmentalists, meet Mr. Dinosaur. Get ready to be embalmed in tree sap resin dripping on yer heads.

    • 9 months ago
  • demsbeans527
  • Fishinflick
    • +2
      Fishinflick  
    • JanforGore:

      That whole "Super Committee" as well as the "Super Delegate" business has got to go. Back during the '08 election it was impossible to find exactly what it was a "Super Delegate" actually did, I suspect it was a deal-maker of sorts, a super lobbyist, it's still a mystery since they did not talk to the people directly. Now this "Super Committee" comes out of nowhere and has some kind of power not mandated by the people? Why don't we just claim a divine Demi-God leader and be done with it? And since corporations are God let's call him - Corruptio.

      I'm with you, ignore the nonsense starting with this kick-off speech to the 2012 el-auction. Let's focus on issues and take them to the streets and local politics - start with our communities and work our way up. Washington is so far gone it's irrelevant.

    • 9 months ago
  • Fishinflick
    • 0
      Fishinflick  
    • JanforGore:

      Well I can see all the Obamabots are out in force supporting the politics of image again rather than the politics of action... I'm with you Jan, most of the so-called liberals or progressives have been co-opted by the brand.

      Best to stay away from these idiotic analysis' of prefab proglite pablum and go for the issues with like minded activists who'll stand up to the 2-headed snake.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • Fishinflick
    • +3
      Fishinflick  
    • SFirman:

      As in more Republican legislation? No thanks, we've got that already... Party loyalists always try to play the fear card - to silence criticism. I'll skip the lecture on the bought Congress and you can skip the lecture on compromise.

      Realize that at a certain point social issues belong to the people - not to politicians who continue to institute bad policies. That said, I would hope good Democrat loyalists would join the call for activism and civil disobedience to address the issues, theoretically we're on the same side.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
    • +1
      SFirman  
    • Fishinflick:

      I'm not playing the fear card. I just know Obama can't pass much without support of congress. The Republican house is standing in the way. I will vote them out and just want Americans to join me.

    • 9 months ago
  • Fishinflick
    • 0
      Fishinflick  
    • SFirman:

      The best case scenario is that we're back to the Democratic majority in Congress that offers a softened-for-suckers corporate agenda. OK, that's the preferred starting point - but if you really want to give the President a mandate, you must refuse to accept the type of conciliation that has driven the party way past center right into the lap of corporate interests and demand social justice and real reform. And that will take much more than casting a ballot. You have to fight for what you believe in, no one is going to hand it to you.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
    • 0
      SFirman  
    • Fishinflick:

      The president is fighting. He gave a congress a good bill to help the middle class. He is on the road taking it to the people. How can he fight with a house that will vote what he wants for US down. He is in the middle to left for those voters. You must cast a ballot to help him, so he has a congress that will never think of us, as will the Republicans running.

    • 9 months ago
  • Fishinflick
    • +1
      Fishinflick  
    • SFirman:

      Look, I'll not vote Republican, so what other choice do I have? But you've got to pull the blinders off and wake up! Will you fight the corporate coup even if Obama is still on their side after he wins the auction? Do you know what time it is?

    • 9 months ago
  • SIBob
    • -1
      SIBob  
    • Image

    • Business as usual, Obama does all the bending and “compromising”, and the right-wing thugs sit on their hands. I did not like the language in the part about Medicare “reform”. It sounds like he is caving in to the idea of vouchers for those under 55, because he emphasized protecting “current” recipients. I heard the same crap from our local idiot, Congressman Grimm.
      I mean, I liked the president’s tone as he stared down the opposition. I liked it when he stood up for collective bargaining, and job safety, and financial regulation. But the bulk of this thing is just more tax cuts, which will lead to the underfunding and termination of many needed social programs and local government subsidies. (He proposes to give with one hand and take back with the other, funding for school and infrastructure repairs, and a tightening of the budget, at the same time.)
      Extending unemployment benefits is not the answer either. At this point in time, the long term unemployed should be hired to perform some form of municipal work. This would bolster individual confidence, give the government some kind of return on the funding, and allow future job candidates to show something to future employers besides another year of hanging out. Who knows, maybe even job skills can be learned. It’s bad enough that many private employers won’t talk to anyone who has been out of work for long time. This type of effort should not be forced on anyone, like “workfare”. It should not be seen as a stigmatization, but as an opportunity to get out of the house and back into the real world. And, it should pay more than unemployment insurance, giving people the opportunity to crawl out from underneath. That is the kind of “stimulus” that could really help. Most “infrastructure” improvements won’t help those who don’t belong to trade union locals, (although many would gladly join, given the opportunity). In fact, if the infrastructure funding was tied into increasing the union roles, all the better, for us, (as long as nepotism is disallowed, and all are welcomed). http://sibob.org/wordpress/?p=7350

    • 9 months ago
  • demsbeans527
    • -1
      demsbeans527  
    • SIBob:

      Yep. Vouchers and a nice letter suggesting that you should invest the sum to get the maximum return for your retirement funds. Wait, they will probably just send a letter stating that 'your retirement money (in the sum of...) is housed at (insert name) bank, do what you want with it but that is all you get.' 'Oh and good luck with that.'

    • 9 months ago
  • SIBob
    • +3
      SIBob  
    • demsbeans527:

      Heaven forbid your carrier does the usual thing, and turns down the claim. Or, you reach some kind of limit when you get a terminal disease, and there is no more coverage to be had. Who is kidding who with this crap? They want us dead. The question is, are we going to roll over, or fight it? These two corrupt political parties are trying to take us for fools.

    • 9 months ago
  • SFirman
  • demsbeans527
  • SFirman
  • lazloman
    • +5
      lazloman  

    • I really wish he would have done the infrastructure first, but oh well. Now he has to get it through Congress. We all know what that will look like.

    • 9 months ago
  • Gravity_Man
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Ambill94
    • +2
      Ambill94  

    • Huh? Rob the ailing social security program to pay for part of this? It sounds like a Republican president is in the White House again. Why is Washington afraid to commit to spending whatever it takes to get this economy back to good health. We have already seen what under-funding the crisis has done.
      We have no problem deficit funding wars with blank checks...is that more important than Americans and America's economy? Those wars including the asinine war on drugs have made our streets more dangerous and our behavior more criminal.

      And the Republicans run around like old women wringing their hands over spending money we can't immediately repay. What a joke!!! The Democrats can't find their backbones. What a mess!!!

      November 2012 can't come soon enough. We need to clean house!!!

    • 9 months ago
  • DDJohnAdams
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