In case you missed it, President Obama’s speech to Congress used the phrase “right away” eight times in urging the legislative body to pass his jobs bill. If only the sharply-divided Congress will show the same urgency.
Republican leaders seem to realize the public thinks it is time to stop fiddling while the economy burns and wants action “right away” instead of oratory and obstructionism. It was a powerful speech, and some of their immediate comments showed they liked parts of the plan. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he agreed with “lots of things” in the Obama plan, including tax relief for small business, some public works spending and trade deals to expand trade with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.
The proposed American Jobs Act is the centerpiece of Mr. Obama’s plan for a $447 billion in tax cuts and government spending to head off a feared double-dip recession. He avoided the term “stimulus,” the name of the $787 billion recovery plan he pushed in 2009 just after the financial system collapsed. Republicans derided it as a failure, but economists generally agreed that it helped prevent deeper job losses and start a modest recovery. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that it saved or created 3.3 million jobs and lowered the unemployment rate by 1.8 percentage points.
The American Jobs Act, with possibly better accountability, would extend and expand the current cut in payroll taxes, saving $140 billion paid by employees and smaller businesses. Another $140 billion would help modernize schools and repair roads and bridges.
Maine would get support for thousands of jobs and a tax break for tens of thousands of Maine businesses, said Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree in a statement. Other help would be $138 million to repair Maine roads and bridges, plus nearly $120 million to keep teachers and first responders on the job and hire some who have been laid off.
Such needs can’t wait. The time for Congressional action is right now, not months from now after wrangling and gridlock. Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins said in a statement that she appreciated the president’s desire to address the problem of “our high unemployment rate and stagnant economy,” although she was disappointed that it took him so long to do it and was concerned over how he would pay for nearly $500 billion in new spending.
The time is right, too, for action on confirmation of Richard Cordray as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans tried to limit its powers and independence by substituting a five-member commission for a director and increasing congressional oversight of the bureau. Their bill was defeated last year. Forty-four Senate Republicans (including Sens. Collins and Olympia Snowe) signed a pledge not to vote for the confirmation unless the agency’s structure is changed.
Pledges like that and the expected filibusters are what may keep Congress from acting “right away,” if at all, on these urgent issues.