From a Summer Focused on the Debt, Congress Now Pivots to Jobs

The high rate of unemployment in the nation is a focus of the article but so are the competing Democratic and Republican plans to address this issue in Congress this fall. Six weeks ago, Congress was focused on getting the United States out of debt, because the debt crisis has been tamed, Congress has made the creation of jobs a top priority. The people of the United States have voiced their worry to their elected representatives and jobs are their top concern. Five Republican senators held a news conference about their own job plan. This included the ideas of free trade agreements and tax code changes. Eric Cantor (Virginia Republican and House majority leader) said from the Republican view in Congress, that they were going to have different opinion from those of the President and the Congressional Democrats. The Republican Party wanted to voice their opinion before the President spoke about his plan to help the job crisis on September 8, 2011. Congress is in the process of working on a structured plan to solve the unemployment catastrophe in the United States. However, their ability to deal with the crisis will depend on how well they can compromise with one another.

The United States Congress is working on putting a plan together to relieve 14 million people from the unemployment crisis. Unemployment is a growing problem and I think it’s a smart decision for Congress to begin to create a job plan even though not all democrats and republicans will agree. This will improve the reputation of Congress because they are beginning to create jobs plans, which is going to help the United States citizens tremendously. This article also illustrates the relationship between the Republican and Democratic Party. Congress is not willing to work together on this issue; both parties are coming up with different strategies and plans. Congress’ ratings from the citizens are very low which exemplifies how well Congress is addressing the people’s wants. The unwilling relationship between the two parties to come to a solid decision may be the reason for these ratings.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/politics/08congress.html?ref=senate

Did Obama's Jobs Speech Seize The 'Big Moment'?

President Obama’s speech about jobs last Friday was a very important event in his presidency. It was an important speech because it showed that President Obama is really starting to get serious about the election and the President used this issue to promote compromise between the different political parties. Republican consultant, Vinny Minchillo, and Democratic consultant, J.J. Balaban, both offered their analysis of the speech. Vinny Minchillo was impressed with how President Obama delivered his speech and how he used compromise in his new policy by explaining how the plan will benefit both Republican and Democratic agendas. This compromise will help The President get more votes from Republicans and Independents. J.J. Balaban said it was clearly part of President Obama's campaign. Balaban said it was the speech that the speech was the best so far in terms of starting his campaign going. Gaining credibility and respect in Congress is something that has really challenged the president in past years. This speech according to the speakers of the article is a turning point in his campaign and shows how he knows to use comprise in order gain votes.

President Obama is using spin in order to turn the issue of unemployment around to benefit him in the long run. The President keeps going back to how the bill will help cut taxes and give lower taxes to higher employed companies, this gives The President gets the chance to show Republicans that he has there interest in mind. At the same time, the President also assures his fellow Democrats that this plan will also benefit workers by making tax cut incentives for the businesses to rise there wages. This is effective spin because it shows that President can compromise on this issue and unemployment is very important to both parties and puts President Obama in a place will reflect well on him for re-election. President Obama also used his knowledge of both sides of the unemployment issue to his advantage by positioning himself not solely on the Democratic or Republican viewpoint and instead giving off the sense that he as The President would listen to both sides on this and many other issues.

Main article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/09/09/140330051/did-obamas-jobs-speech-seize-the-big-moment

Obama calls on Congress to Quickly Pass his "American Jobs Act"

For many years the nation has been facing the big issue of unemployment. Last Thursday, President Obama delivered a speech to the nation, and in the speech he spoke about how the good of the nation is more important than the political benefits. Throughout the night, he is faced with mixed responses from Congress. Some Republicans feel that a compromise should be done to help solve the huge issue of unemployment but others feel that it is not going to work. For the most part, Democrats are very supportive of the plan that President Obama wants to create. Lastly, both parties and the President are concerned about the low approve ratings that they are being faced with.

President Obama really wants to be viewed in a good way. By President Obama proposing this act, it was showing that he was hanging a lantern on his problem. As learned in Hardball, when hanging a lantern on your problem it means that you’re going to fix whatever is not going the way it is supposed to be rather than waiting for someone else to come along and fix it. President Obama is doing just that because he created this proposal about unemployment and presented it to Congress, hoping that they will see what benefits will come out of it. Not all of Congress is satisfied with the proposal so the President got mixed reactions. Also, another idea that comes into mind when looking at the US government is checks and balances and separation of power. These two concepts come into play because the President can’t just go about passing this bill without having a majority vote in Congress. Also, the President isn’t allowed have all of the power in the country so he has to make sure that he includes Congress in his decisions. Lastly, congress is in a tough spot right now because only 12% of the country is satisfied with the job that they’re doing. So if the Republicans agree to this proposal, than it will raise the percentage of people who like what Congress is doing for the nation.

Link to video and article: http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/09/08/obama.jobs.plan/index.html?iref=obnetwork

President Obama unveils American Jobs Act

On Monday, September 12, President Obama unveiled a jobs bill that will end tax breaks for wealthy Americans and cut taxes by about $1500 for the middle class. The bill will also fund new jobs and prevent layoffs without adding to the staggering deficit that the country is currently facing by raising around $467 billion in taxes. The president is hopeful that bipartisan ideas incorporated into the American Jobs Act will sway the Republicans in Congress to pass the bill, insisting that political differences must be put aside in order to heed the demands of the People. Republicans, however, are less certain of the bill as a whole being passed. It is more likely, GOP representatives have said, that the bill will be passed piecemeal. President Obama intends to have the American Jobs Act passed immediately, as the job crisis in America is a pressing issue that cannot wait until later this year or early next year.

President Obama hopes to force the Republicans in Congress to pass the new jobs bill by drawing American attention to the stalemate in Washington between the Democrats and the GOP that prevents any action. Calling for politics to be put aside and for the needs of the American public to be addressed is artful positioning away from bureaucracy and towards the common man. The job crisis in America is a major issue that is shaping the debate for the Republican presidential candidacy, and addressing the issue will keep the game constantly changing for the candidates and is also an attempt to draw attention away from the new candidate and increase approval of the current president, whose ratings are at an all-time low. Rushing the bill is another play for approval before Obama must begin his campaign for re-election.

article on Politico: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/63250_Page2.html