David Gardner
Daily Mail
September 9, 2011
Facing a barrage of criticism over his handling of the economy, President Obama last night unveiled a massive $450bn plan to combat the country's unemployment crisis - and try to save his own job.
In a rare address to a joint session of US Congress at what is being seen as the lowest point in his presidency, Mr Obama tried to inject fresh confidence that he can still turn the dire jobs outlook around.
Unusually impassioned, the president demanded a truce in the political bickering that could still sabotage his much-vaunted American Jobs Act.
With a slew of polls this week showing his approval rankings have slumped to new lows and the jobless figures anchored at 9.1%, the make-or-break speech was supposed to breathe new life into his faltering re-election hopes.
But within minutes of the end of the televised 30-minute address, Republicans were already on the attack, lambasting the president for splashing out yet more taxpayer billions in a bid to spend his way out of the downturn
Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann claimed Mr Obama's approach amounts to more 'failed gimmicks.'
The Tea Party darling said that the jobs plan will fail even if it is passed by Congress.
She claimed the president was 'politically paralyzed' and 'philosophically incapable of doing what needs to be done.'
Mr Obama's proposed package includes a payroll tax cut for all workers, a payroll tax cuts for most business, and billions in extra spending on construction projects.
He peppered the speech with the demand that Congress should pass the plan 'right away', a phrase he used 15 times.
But his hectoring tone suggested he was far from sure they would.
'The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities,' he said. 'The question tonight is whether we'll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.'
'This plan is the right thing to do right now. You should pass it and I intend to take this measure to every corner of this country,' he added
Another Republican presidentila candidate Ron Paul predicted a backlash from the public over the plan that adds hundreds of billions more public spending just weeks after the country was taken to the brink of defaulting on its loans in a Washington deadlock over the ballooning national deficit.
But Mr Obama proposed his bill would be paid for in part by tax increases for wealthy Americans.
How is it fair that billionaires like Warren Buffet, one of the world's richest men, pays a lower tax code than a secretary, he asked.
He insisted that the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations should 'pay their fair share.'
Fired up over the political bickering in the lead up to the speech, he insisted his plan had nothing to do with 'class warfare.'
Source
More borrowing! Yay! And did you know that unemployment is actually roughly 22%? If you are unemployed over 6 months then you are no longer counted!