The President's Jobs Bill - Is anyone else reading this Bill or do I have a different copy than everyone else?
For weeks now President Obama has been traveling all over the United States talking to groups and organizations about his "jobs bill." Apparently before doing so he had appealed to members of Congress in both Houses and on both sides of the aisle to "pass this bill now."
With the U.S. and World Economy in the shape that it is in I can understand a sense of urgency with his appeal. But is it really the economy, jobs and the American people that drives his "sense of urgency" or possibly something else? Out on the "non-campaign" trail he has told thousands and thousands of people that the Bill contains elements that both parties have agreed upon in the past. So what was or is the problem? Why didn't Congress pass the Bill with President Obama's original request? Even in the Senate which is controlled by the Democrats, where Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and other fellow party members are usually more than willing to accomodate the President seemed reluctant to step forward. Why has he resorted to taking his request on the road to the American people? Is it because he really believes that it is the right thing to do for the American people and that it will truly create jobs? Or is he so pompous as to think that people will automatically take him at his word and not read the bill? It may be that he thinks that he can use the public to persuade their elected officials to pass his jobs bill.
Given these unanswered questions, I found two copies of "The American Jobs Act 2011" on Open Congress.org and began to read. The first thing that I discovered was that there are two bills with the exact same name but a different number of pages and different dates; Senate numbers S1549 "The American Jobs Act 2011" sponsored by Harry Reid (D)-NV, dated 9-14-2011 with no co-sponsors and S1660, "The American Jobs Act 2011" also sponsored by Harry Reid (D)-NV, dated 10-11-2011 also with no co-sponsors.
I began by reading S1549. There are a number of mischaracterizations or omissions between what the President is telling the people and what the bill actually says. I invite you to go online, get yourself a copy and join me! Get back with us on our contact page and share your thoughts or perhaps an article that you would like to submit.
Let us know how many jobs you see created by this Act and how long you think these jobs will last? What about the AIAF? What do you think about the government establishing a wholly owned bank that will be owned and controlled by the government to provide loans to contractors in the public sector only (that means government jobs) and we the taxpayer get to provide the funds. Don't let our tricky President fool you into thinking that this is all paid for because that is not exactly accurate. It says that it will be paid for with funds that have been offset . . . when in actuality he's counting on the Super Committee to fail in coming up with the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts so that the "triggers" that were thrown into the deal and were voted on just to make things interesting, will kick in. Which means cuts will take place but from Medicare and the Defense budget. Since the Defense budget is $700 billion anually and is so severely stretched already I don't have to tell you what a $400 or $500 billion cut would do. It would in my mind put us in a very serious security situation. And why Medicare? People are made to contribute to this fund all of their working lives to help them when they retire and are usually on fixed incomes. So how is it, that it's OK to cut money from a fund that belongs to the people who contributed to it? Let's talk honestly about what this act really offers teachers and first responders. What about a new "wireless" Authority? Do you know what this is all about and how many full time long term jobs it will create? Is the reduction of payroll taxes (taken from the Social Security portion of our pay) really a tax cut for the American people? What does the word "INFRASTRUCTURE" really mean? You REALLY NEED to know what this is all about and we really need to discuss these things to make sure that what is being told to the American people is accurate. So that all Americans understand CLEARLY what they may be endorsing.
Please get on board, we need your input and your help. This country belongs to all of us. Download The American Jobs Act on the Internet. There are two versions. The version we have has a summarized "cliff notes" condensed section with it. Take a read.
