Senate Rejects Obama’s Jobs Bill
 |
October 12, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
President Obama’s American Jobs Act has been dealt a major blow after being defeated by a motion in the Senate.
Republican senators were joined by two Democratic dissenters in voting against the $447bn proposal, which seeks to seriously dent America’s 9.1% unemployment rate through a series of tax cuts and infrastructure projects.
Reacting to the vote, President Obama told a Union meeting in Pittsburgh that Republicans were putting their political aspiration before the interests of the American people.
“I think they’ll have a hard time explaining why they voted no on this bill - other than the fact that I proposed it.”
Over the past few weeks, the president has challenged Republicans to come up with good reason for voting against the act. He has continuously referred to the independent economic assertions that say it could create nearly two million jobs.
The latest political battle is taking place against the backdrop of large left-wing demonstrations against America’s financial sector.
America’s economic woe is likely to be the critical issue in next year’s presidential election. In recent weeks, the bipartisan strategy that characterised the earlier part of the president’s term has been replaced by a new found defiance.
“Tonight’s vote is by no means the end of this fight,” warned Mr Obama.
Republicans responded by accusing the president of playing politics. They say that Mr Obama knew that the jobs bill would not get their support, particularly after his 2009 stimulus failed to keep its promise of keeping unemployment below 8%. They prefer legislation concerned with easing bureaucratic regulation, which they argue is choking the US economy.
Nevertheless, some elements of the bill, including extending the payroll tax cut, could still solicit Republican support.
Meanwhile, the Senate has approved a bill which will make it easier for tariffs to be placed on Chinese imports. Many Democrats, including the president, have accused Beijing of purposefully maintaining the Chinese currency at a low level, something which cheapens Chinese imports into the US. Republicans have warned that the bill could initiate a trade war, and have vowed to block its passage through the House of Representatives.
“There are always people who do not want to stand up to China,” said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. “I think (they) are undercutting our ability to stop the haemorrhaging in our manufacturing jobs.”
The Chinese government reacted to the bill’s passage through the senate by calling on Washington to “stop politicising economic issues and take concrete action to create an enabling environment for the development of bilateral economic relations and trade”.
By Dermot Tobin
[Image courtesy of SS&SS]
