Republicans Will Pass Obama's Jobs Bill or Find Themselves Unemployed

Where have the Democrats been hiding

that

version of Barack Obama all summer?

In a fiery speech before Congress, President Obama laid out an effective, workable jobs plan and demanded (not asked, but demanded) that Congress get off its butt and pass the bill. The attitude change is a far cry from the near begging tone Obama took with the GOP when the Republicans took the entire country hostage during the debt ceiling fight. For starters, the bill itself is good, if not great. Could it be bigger and more progressive? Sure. Instead, it's exactly what the split government, bipartisan times calls for: some Democratic ideas, some Republican ideas, and a price tag that is offset with future cuts and tax loophole closings. In other words, it is the perfect bill. What's in the bill? Here's how the White House explains the bill:

First, it provides a tax cut for small businesses, not big corporations, to help them hire and expand now, and provides an additional tax cut to any business that hires or increases wages.

Second, it puts more people back to work, including up to 280,000 teachers laid off by state-budget cuts, first responders and veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, and construction workers repairing crumbling bridges, roads and more than 35,000 public schools, with projects chosen by need and impact, not earmarks and politics. And, it expands job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of low-income youth and adults through a new Pathways Back to Work Fund that supports summer and year round jobs for youth; innovative new job training programs to connect low-income workers to jobs quickly; and successful programs to encourage employers to bring on disadvantaged workers.

Third, it helps out-of-work Americans by extending unemployment benefits to help them support their families while looking for work and reforming the system with training programs that build real skills, connect to real jobs and help the long-term unemployed. It bans employers from discriminating against the unemployed when hiring, and provides a new tax credit to employers hiring workers who have been out of a job for over 6 months.

Fourth, it puts more money in the pockets of working and middle class Americans by cutting in half the payroll tax that comes out of every worker's paycheck, saving families an average of $1,500 a year' and taking executive action to remove the barriers that exist in the current federal refinancing program (HARP) to help more Americans refinance their mortgages at historically low rates, save money and stay in their homes.

Last, the plan won't add a dime to the deficit and is fully paid for through a balanced deficit reduction plan that includes closing corporate tax loopholes and asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share.

I'm not gonna lie — if this bill were a nice girl at the bar, I would gladly take her home and kiss her all night long. Safe to say, this is exciting stuff for jobs: tax cuts for small businesses, funds to help reduce the layoffs of teachers and cops, as well as for returning veterans. Opportunities for low-income kids, job-training programs, programs to get employers to hire disadvantaged people. Oh, and extending payroll tax cuts? And helping Americans with underwater mortgages refinance smartly and stay in their homes? What's not to like? Oh, I nearly left off the best part: IT WON'T COST US A DIME. The bill closes loopholes and trims a little off the top end of some programs. Will it work? According to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, Obama's $447-billion plan would likely cut the unemployment rate by a percentage point, United Press International reported on Friday. It will add, Zandi estimates, 1.9 million jobs and grow the economy by 2 percent. Not bad for a bill that will cost nothing. Now I know some will be against it because they oppose government investment in the economy. To those folks, I give you the words directly from the President, who does a far better job explaining it than I can.

"Ask yourselves – where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways and our bridges; our dams and our airports? What would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on public high schools, or research universities, or community colleges? Millions of returning heroes, including my grandfather had the opportunity to go to school because of the GI Bill. Where would we be if they hadn't had that chance?

"How many jobs would it have cost us if past Congresses decided not to support the basic research that led to the Internet and the computer chip? What kind of country would this be if this Chamber had voted down Social Security or Medicare just because it violated some rigid idea about what government could or could not do? How many Americans would have suffered as a result?

"No single individual built America on their own. We built it together. We have been, and always will be, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all; a nation with responsibilities to ourselves and with responsibilities to one another. Members of Congress, it is time for us to meet our responsibilities.

Obama has now boxed the Republicans into a corner. If they pass the bill, the economy improves and Obama gets re-elected. Democrats keep the Senate and possibly retake the House. If they go against the bill, the bad economy becomes THEIR fault, for not passing the bill that would have revived it. Obama gets re-elected, Democrats keep the Senate and possibly retake the House. Checkmate.

You can reach the author by email john@benzinga.com or on twitter @johndthorpe.

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