Reid Floats Millionaire Tax To Pay For Jobs Bill

By Janie Amaya 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday proposed a five percent surtax on those making more than $1 million annually. The tax, he said, would generate $445 billion in new revenue over the next decade, enough to cover the cost of President Obama’s jobs package.

“Independents, Democrats, Republicans and even the Tea Party agree it’s time for millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes,” Reid said.

Reid had said Tuesday night that he was measuring ways to pay for the bill after sixteen Senators in his own party expressed reservations over the tax increases proposed by Obama. The list of hikes targeted individuals making $200,000 per year or more, investors earning more than $1 million annually and the oil and gas industry, which receive billions in federal subsidies each year.

Reid’s idea is certain to be rejected by congressional Republicans, but the measure may attract more backing from other Democrats, since it raises the income threshhold subject to the fee.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who joined Reid and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) at today’s press conference, said the millionaire surtax figures to be more palatable to lawmakers worried about burdening small business owners. In a line sure to be used against Democrats in the coming weeks, Schumer argued that those making less than $1 million a year “are not rich.”

Schumer also said that those opposing the White House’s bill are missing the fact that a new poll out today suggested that Americans have more faith in Obama to create jobs than Republicans.

In terms of when the bill would come up for a vote, Reid said he’ll push for a speedy vote on a currency manipulation bill being debated this week, and then pivot to the president’s plan.

“The plan would invest in things that we need: roads, bridges, dams, water systems, sewer systems; to put construction workers back, to work building and renovating schools,” Reid said. He also touted its provision to extend unemployment benefits for the millions of out-of-work Americans.

Pointing his finger at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Reid said it’s time for Republicans to stop playing partisan games and propose amendments if they disagree with how the bill is paid for.

Republicans, meanwhile, have hinted some support for certain elements of the bill, but none have argued that raising taxes on wealthy taxpayers to cover the cost of the bill is a good idea.

Geoff Holtzman contributed to this story.

Hoyer Presses GOP To Move On Jobs Bill

By Janie Amaya

House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) accused Republicans on Tuesday of failing to produce jobs legislation during their first nine months in charge of the House.

Hoyer told reporters during his weekly briefing that action must be taken on President Obama’s American Jobs Act, and argued that Republicans have already voiced support for several elements in the plan.

“Not only have we not moved the jobs bill, there have been no hearings on the jobs bill,” Hoyer said.

Hoyer said it was unfortunate that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said yesterday that the bill has zero chance of passing the House.

The Maryland Democrat pointed to forecasts predicting that the jobs package would create nearly two million jobs, cut the unemployment rate by a point on average and increase growth by two percentage points. 

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Hoyer said, “I hope the committee feels the ‘fierce urgency of now’ as the stock market reflects a lack of confidence, as Europe is roiled and as the virus of the lack of confidence in our markets spreads rapidly throughout the world. This is a time of significant moment and hopefully we’re up to the tasks.”

Dems React To Boehner's Resistance On China Bill

By Adrianna McGinley

House Republicans must schedule a vote on a bill addressing Chinese currency manipulation, said Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and other House Democrats on Tuesday.

The House Ways and Means Committee ranking Democrat and other supporters of the bill said the legislation would create jobs in the U.S.

“There’s been no jobs legislation that has come out of the Republican majority here,” Levin said. “This is a jobs bill, and it is coming over most certainly from the Senate, and so the question will be whether the House leadership will let us vote on it. They know if it comes up for a vote, it will pass.”

Democrats who spoke took issue with House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) assertion that the bill would be “dangerous” for Congress to take up.

“This is a message from the Republican party, from Speaker Boehner, to all those small and medium size manufacturers all across the industrial Midwest that your help…is dead on arrival,” said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). “The Republican party no longer represents the small and medium size manufacturer.”

Levin said his years of experience in trade dismiss concerns from critics who say the bill could lead to a “trade war” with China. Levin said American businesses are already on an uneven playing field with the industrial powerhouse.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) heavily criticized Republicans for not acting on the bill, saying they are inhibiting economic recovery.

“They don’t want Barack Obama to have one bit of success,” said the ranking member of the House Trade Subcommittee. “They will do anything to our economy in order to prevent him from having any lessening of the unemployment rate in this country.”

Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) agreed, saying Congress not only needs to act on this bill, but also on the president’s jobs bill, and he urged reporters to ask Republicans “why won’t you take up the job creation bills?”

Cantor: American Jobs Act Is DOA

By Andrea Salazar

President Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill, as a package, is dead. 

That according to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who said Monday at his weekly briefing that the president’s “all or nothing approach is just unacceptable.”

Elements of that jobs bill are on the table, though. The House, over the next month, will pass bills to help small business owners, to make the 3 percent withholding provision permanent and to make free-trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, Cantor said.

“We’ve seen enough of the divide,” he said. “And that’s why I say that if nothing else, we should certainly focus on trying to put some wins on the board, stop magnifying the differences [and] try and focus on the commonalities.”

While emphasizing the need for Republicans and Democrats to work together, Cantor also pointed out that “we’ve got a terrible environment for entrepreneurs” and called for less government regulation on businesses. 

“Our country is being paralyzed by Washington over-regulation and a Washington-knows-best mentality coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.,” the majority leader said.

The president, however, still expects Congress to pass his jobs bill.

“It’s been several weeks now since I sent up the American Jobs Act and, as I’ve been saying on the road, I want it back. I’m ready to sign it,” Obama said on Monday morning.

Poll: Americans Favor Jobs Plan, Taxing Rich

President Obama’s plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans as a method of paying for the American Jobs Act has gained some considerable support from the American public, according to recent poll figures. 

A new poll released by Gallup found that seven in ten Americans favor increasing taxes on corporations by eliminating tax loopholes. Additionally, 66 percent also favor proposed tax rate increases on individuals earning more than $200,000 and families earning more than $250,000. 

Among conservative voters, 53 percent agree on eliminating corporate tax deductions while just 41 percent favor tax hikes on individual and household incomes. Comparatively, nearly 86 percent of Democrats and those leaning to the left favor hiked taxes on both entities. 

Additionally, poll figures found that Americans generally approve of the President’s jobs plan. Most notably, a proposal that would provide tax cuts for small businesses , which includes incentives to hire workers, garnered wide bipartisan support with Republican and Democratic voters, 84 and 87 percent, respectively.  

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted between Sept. 15-18 with a random sample of 1,004 adults over the age of 18.