The President + the Private Sector | What Barack Obama Actually Thinks

What a bunch of numbskulls. Do we have to do everything?

I keep waiting for someone in the so-called "Beltway Press" to point out what the President actually said about the performance and condition of the private sector in his press conference last Friday. 

But no. They're playing out the ridiculous "gaffe" narrative, aren't they… 

Knuckleheads. 7th graders could do the job you're doing now.

The President (2nd paragraph of opening remarks): Today, we’re fighting back from the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression.  After losing jobs for 25 months in a row, our businesses have now created jobs for 27 months in a row -- 4.3 million new jobs in all.  The fact is job growth in this recovery has been stronger than in the one following the last recession a decade ago.  But the hole we have to fill is much deeper and the global aftershocks are much greater.  That’s why we've got to keep on pressing with actions that further strengthen the economy.

(12th paragraph of opening remarks): Keep in mind that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months.  But one of the biggest weaknesses has been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 Americans.  These are teachers and cops and firefighters.  Congress should pass a bill putting them back to work right now, giving help to the states so that those layoffs are not occurring.

(15th paragraph of opening remarks): Instead of just talking a good game about job creators, Congress should give the small business owners that actually create most of the new jobs in America a tax break for hiring more workers.

Caren Bohan: Blah, blah, blah, European debt crisis. Blah, blah, And finally, you talked about  a number of ideas that you've already put forth to shield the American economy. Do you plan to give a speech or lay out additional ideas now the crisis is really escalating?

The President (9th and 10th paragraphs of response to Ms. Bohan): …And the most important thing I think we can do is make sure that we continue to have a strong, robust recovery.  So the steps that I've outlined are the ones that are needed.  We've got a couple of sectors in our economy that are still weak.  Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs.  We've seen record profits in the corporate sector.

The big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction.  You've seen teacher layoffs, police officers, cops, firefighters being laid off.  And the other sector that's still weak has been the construction industry.  Those two areas we've directly addressed with our jobs plan.  The problem is that it requires Congress to take action, and we're going to keep pushing them to see if they can move in that direction.

Jackie Calmes: What about the Republicans saying that you’re blaming the Europeans for the failures of your own policies?

The President:  The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.  The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government -- oftentimes, cuts initiated by governors or mayors who are not getting the kind of help that they have in the past from the federal government and who don’t have the same kind of flexibility as the federal government in dealing with fewer revenues coming in.  

And so, if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is, how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry.  Because the recipes that they’re promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the economy, would result in further layoffs, would not provide relief in the housing market, and would result, I think most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more. 

Was that so hard? 

Ten seconds into his remarks the President affirms our businesses for reversing a 25-month trend of job cuts and creating jobs for 27 months in a row — 4.3 million jobs in all. He credits businesses with generating stronger job growth in this recovery than the much shallower recession a decade ago. He doesn't take credit for this; he gives credit to "our businesses."

A few minutes later, the President reminds us that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months.

Another minute passes and the President says Congress should stop talking about job creators and give the business owners who actually create most of the new jobs in America a tax break for their trouble.

A few minutes later, part of the President's answer a question from Caren Bohan is: "Overall, the private sector has been doing a good job creating jobs. We've seen record profits in the corporate sector."

When Jackie Calmes asks a followup question, the President reiterates that we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone and that the private sector is doing fine  compared with state and local governments that are hemorrhaging jobs at an alarming pace and are powerless to do much about that unless the federal government acts.

And there you have it. The President said the private sector should get full credit for creating lots of jobs. He said — five times in 29 minutes by my count — that private sector businesses are more than pulling their weight. And he said Congress is sitting on its hands, refusing to step up for reasons that boggle the mind.

The President thinks the private sector is doing well in job creation. Does Governor Romney think they are not? Do Congressmen Boehner and Cantor and Senator McConnell think the private sector is failing America? I'm hard pressed to see how that's not what they're saying…unless you want to try to convince me they are simply playing the fool; pretending the President said what he clearly did not say. You don't want me to believe those good men are clowns, do you?

Speaking of clowns: Why am I up writing about this at 11 o'clock after a pretty stiff day of writing about things people actually pay me to write about? Where are the people who are supposed to keep the record straight about what leaders and would-be leaders say and do not say? Are there no honest brokers of truth in the press? Has this whole enterprise devolved into lunchroom gossip?

Here's the transcript of the President's remarks and the Q+A that followed.

Here's a link to download the video.

Here's a link to download the audio. 

And here's me, going to bed grouchy.

We won't even debate the American Jobs Act?

Last night the United States Senate failed to muster 60 elected officials willing to even debate the merits of the American Jobs Act.

That's how things work under current Senate rules. The Act itself might be passed with a simple majority of 51 votes. But 60 votes are required to bring the matter up for debate.

What part of we need jobs makes this proposal so distasteful that it can't be discussed?

• Incentivizing employers to hire returning Iraq and Afghanistan Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines?
• Hiring, rehiring and preventing the layoff of tens of thousands of firefighters, law enforcement officers and teachers?
• Training to refit capable but unemployed American workers to take jobs requiring knowledge and skills they lack?
• Modernizing more than 30,000 schools across the U.S.?
• Adding — if Moody's Analytics is in the ballpark — 1.9 million jobs — lowering the unemployment rate by a full point and growing the U.S. economy by two percent? (Could your enterprise use a two percent bump at the closing of the year?)

Read the American Jobs Act for yourself. If your Senator voted against even debating the measure, you have a right to know why. Here's where you'll find Senate contact information. 

The American Jobs Act | Letter to My Congressman

September 13, 2011

Congressman Bilbray, 

I urge you to use your position on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to fast-track passage of the American Jobs Act. If it is signed into law, your constituents can begin taking advantage of the provisions of this bill on October 1, 2011 — exactly when we need the help. 

Please sir, call your colleagues to account if they attempt to game this important legislation. 

The need is now, the time is now. I call on you to act now. 

respectfully, 

Jim Hancock

[Read it for yourself — click to download a pdf of the American Jobs Act to your download folder]

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT | FACT SHEET

Yesterday, I posted the transcript of President Obama's American Jobs Act speech before a joint session of Congress.

Here is the Fact Sheet that accompanied that address, concluding with round costs associated with each item. Next week, the Administration will deliver the President's detailed proposal to Congress. 

THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT | FACT SHEET 

1. Tax Cuts to Help America’s Small Businesses Hire and Grow

• Cutting the payroll tax in half for 98 percent of businesses: The President’s plan will cut in half the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll, targeting the benefit to the 98 percent of firms that have payroll below this threshold.
• A complete payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages: The President’s plan will completely eliminate payroll taxes for firms that increase their payroll by adding new workers or increasing the wages of their current worker (the benefit is capped at the first $50 million in payroll increases).
• Extending 100% expensing into 2012: This continues an effective incentive for new investment.
• Reforms and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital. 

The American Jobs Act | Transcript

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 08, 2011

Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress

United States Capitol
Washington, D.C.

7:09 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, and fellow Americans: 

Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country.  We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that’s made things worse.
This past week, reporters have been asking, “What will this speech mean for the President?  What will it mean for Congress?  How will it affect their polls, and the next election?” 

But the millions of Americans who are watching right now, they don’t care about politics.  They have real-life concerns.  Many have spent months looking for work.  Others are doing their best just to scrape by -- giving up nights out with the family to save on gas or make the mortgage; postponing retirement to send a kid to college. 

These men and women grew up with faith in an America where hard work and responsibility paid off.  They believed in a country where everyone gets a fair shake and does their fair share -- where if you stepped up, did your job, and were loyal to your company, that loyalty would be rewarded with a decent salary and good benefits; maybe a raise once in a while.  If you did the right thing, you could make it.  Anybody could make it in America.