RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama sharpened his rhetoric on Wednesday in a push for his $447 billion jobs package, even as polls showed Americans skeptical of the plan and Democrats' loss of a congressional seat raised new questions about his political strength.
In the latest stop on what has become a "pass this bill" tour, Obama used a campaign-style rally to press his warning to Republicans not to let election politics delay action on his proposals to reduce chronically high U.S. unemployment.
"You need leaders who will put country before party," Obama told a cheering crowd at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "The time for gridlock and games is over. The time for action is now."
Obama and the Republicans -- all looking toward elections in November 2012 -- are locked in their third major budget battle of the year, after a near-shutdown of the government in April, a last-minute deal to avert a government default in August and negotiations now over the president's jobs plan.
Battle lines have been drawn around familiar turf: Obama wants to raise taxes on wealthier Americans and corporations to pay for his plans; Republicans want to cut spending.
Obama has sought to pressure Republicans by taking his case on the road and accusing them of playing "political games" over jobs. But it is clear his own 2012 re-election depends heavily on his ability to spur the stagnant American economy.
Obama's visit to the electoral swing state of North Carolina was aimed at building support for his jobs bill, which calls for a mixture of tax cuts and new government spending.
But doubts persist.
Just one in six people in a new National Journal/United Technologies poll said Obama's plan would reduce unemployment "a lot." About half of respondents thought it would improve employment at least "a little," and one-quarter said the bill would not affect employment levels at all.
A Bloomberg poll showed 51 percent of Americans doubted the jobs package would bring down the 9.1 percent jobless rate and 40 percent thought it would.
SMALL LIFT
Interviews with some of the 9,000 people at the rally showed a mixed response to Obama's jobs push and frustration over the legislative dysfunction in Washington.
Sam Brewer, 30, of Raleigh, a former teacher now studying engineering, wants action on jobs but said Democrats missed an opportunity when they controlled both chambers of Congress for the first part of Obama's term.
"Now it's a divided Congress and the Republicans are perfectly happy to have nothing happen," Brewer said.
Obama's approval ratings got a small lift -- to 47 percent from 45 percent -- after he unveiled his jobs plan last week and he remains ahead of all potential Republican rivals in the 2012 election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
But a CNN/ORC poll found Obama's disapproval rating had reached a new high of 55 percent, while only 36 percent of those surveyed approve of his handling of the economy.
Adding to Obama's woes, Republicans scored an upset victory in a congressional election on Tuesday in a Democratic stronghold of New York and trumpeted the win as a sign of voter discontent with the president's policies.
Less than a week after Obama unveiled his jobs plan, New York City voters elected Republican Bob Turner, a retired media executive, in a House district held by a Democrat since the 1920s.
Turner -- winner of a special election for the seat vacated by Anthony Weiner after a Twitter sex scandal -- said voters had sent the message: "'Mr. President, we are on the wrong track.'"
White House spokesman Jay Carney brushed aside the notion that could mean trouble for Obama and fellow Democrats in the November 2012 election. "Special elections are often unique and their outcomes do not tell you very much about future regularly scheduled elections," he told reporters.
OBAMA SAYS 'FED UP'
Taking aim at Republican resistance to parts of his job plan, Obama said: "It's not about positioning for the election. It's about giving the American people a win.
"I get fed up with that kind of game playing," he said. "We're in a national emergency ... and instead of getting folks to rise up above partisanship in a spirit that says we're all in this together you've got folks who are purposely dividing."
His plan to lower the jobless rate with tax cuts to spur hiring and spending paid for by tax hikes on the wealthy and some corporations has come under fire from Republicans who say higher taxes would hurt a weak economic recovery. They also oppose more government spending but may be open to extending payroll tax cuts, one of the main elements of Obama's plan.
Republican members of a bipartisan congressional deficit reduction committee said it will be hard enough finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years without adding Obama's request for them to cover the cost of his jobs plan.
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Donna Smith and Patricia Zengerle in Washington, and Ned Barnett in Raleigh; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Vicki Allen, Peter Cooney and Bill Trott)
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-hardens-tone-push-jobs-bill-013543584.html
And a related story........
President Obama anticipated Republican resistance to his jobs program, but he is now meeting increasing pushback from his own party. Many Congressional Democrats, smarting from the fallout over the 2009 stimulus bill, say there is little chance they will be able to support the bill as a single entity, citing an array of elements they cannot abide.
“I think the American people are very skeptical of big pieces of legislation,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said in an interview Wednesday, joining a growing chorus of Democrats who prefer an à la carte version of the bill despite White House resistance to that approach. “For that reason alone I think we should break it up.”
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, has said he will put the bill on the legislative calendar but has declined to say when. He almost certainly will push the bill — which Mr. Obama urged Congress to pass “right now!” — until after his chamber’s recess at the end of the month; Mr. Reid has set votes on disaster aid, extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration and a short-term spending plan ahead of the jobs bill.
Republicans have focused their attack on the tax increases that would help pay for the spending components of the bill. But Democrats, as is their wont, are divided over their objections, which stem from Mr. Obama’s sinking popularity in polls, parochial concerns and the party’s chronic inability to unite around a legislative initiative, even in the face of Republican opposition.
Some are unhappy about the specific types of companies, particularly the oil industry, that would lose tax benefits. “I have said for months that I am not supporting a repeal of tax cuts for the oil industry unless there are other industries that contribute,” said Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.
A small but vocal group dislikes the payroll tax cuts for employees and small businesses. “I have been very unequivocal,” said Representative Peter A. DeFazio, a Democrat from Oregon. “No more tax cuts.”
His voice rising to a near shriek, he added: “We have the economy that tax cuts give us. And it’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it? The president is in a box.”
There are also Democrats, some of them senators up for election in 2012, who oppose the bill simply for its mental connection to the stimulus bill, which laid at least part of the foundation for the Republican takeover of the House in 2010.
“I have serious questions about the level of spending that President Obama proposed,” said Senator Joe Manchin III, a Democrat from West Virginia, in a statement issued right after Mr. Obama spoke to a joint session of Congress last week.
GOP leaders dismiss revenue-raising in Obama plan
While Mr. Reid, who is known for trying to protect Democrats from casting tough votes, may be delaying the bill to insulate his party, the White House has a tacit agreement with Senate Democrats that Mr. Obama be permitted to take his American Jobs Act around the country to try to sell it to voters. The White House is to brief Democratic senators on the granular aspects of the proposal on Thursday.
The White House does enjoy support from many Democrats still. “I am so happy to hear them talking about the most important thing, which is jobs,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
As he barnstormed again on Wednesday, Mr. Obama told voters in North Carolina, “If you love me, you’ve got to help me pass this bill,” but even some members of Congress from that state may prefer to stay just friends.
Senator Kay Hagan declined on Wednesday to say her support for the bill that Mr. Obama spent the day promoting in her state was indubitable. “We’ve got to have legislation that is supported by Democrats and Republicans,” she said. “I’m going to have to look at it. “
Representative Heath Shuler, another North Carolina Democrat, said Congress should tame the deficit before approving new spending for job programs. “The most important thing is to get our fiscal house in order,” said Mr. Shuler, a leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition. “Then we can talk about other aspects of job creation.”
Earlier in the week, David Axelrod, the president’s top political adviser, said in an interview with “Good Morning America” that the White House was “not in negotiation to break up” Mr. Obama’s bill, and that Congress would not have an option for an “à la carte menu.”
But it is very likely that the bill will be cherry-picked for items that appeal to large swaths on both sides of the aisle, like the payroll tax cut and a job training program for the unemployed.
Senate Democrats would certainly relish the idea of bringing numerous bills to the floor to fail — like those that would benefit first responders — potentially embarrassing the opposing Republicans. However, if Democrats end up dumping some of the more controversial methods of paying for the infrastructure and other big-ticket items in the bill — and most of them annoy Republicans or Democrats or both — either the administration or the House and Senate will still be stuck finding another way to pay for them.
This article, "Some Democrats are balking at Obama's jobs bill," first appeared in The New York Times.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44528419/ns/politics-the_new_york_times...
