Obama Spending Plan Fuels Debate

Congress likely will not take substantive action in the short run on President Barack Obama’s request for $50 billion to be used on infrastructure projects.

Both the House and Senate resume session next week, but for how long remains to be seen. Members are expcted to spend most of their time between now and November campaigning for re-election.

Already, the President is receiving blowback from his speech Monday in which he announced his new plan to create jobs by funding a series of transportation measures.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the plan “should be met with justifiable skepticism.”

“We don’t need more government ‘stimulus’ spending,” added House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). “We need to end Washington Democrats’ out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes, and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses.”

Democrats have successfully overcome a series of Republican hurdles this year to pass legislation, but given mounting voter discontent over deficit growth it is uncertain how much of an appetite they still possess to attach their names to more spending.

In a conference call with reporters on Monday, one senior White House official said the plan is not an added stimulus, but rather a long-term initiative that would also create jobs quickly, perhaps as early as 2011. However, critics point out that the aim of last year’s monumental stimulus package was also to bring down unemployment in the short-term, a goal that went unmet.

Timeline Of Obama's Mosque Statements And Reaction To Them

Friday August 13 - President Obama makes the following remarks to White House guests during a dinner to celebrate the beginning of Ramadan:

“As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. 

Saturday August 14 - President Obama responds to a question about his original remarks during a media availablity in Panama City, Florida:

“My intention was simply to let people know what I thought, which was that In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion. I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about. And I think it’s very important as difficult as some of these issues are that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.” 

Saturday August 14 - White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton clarifies the President’s response:

“Just to be clear, the President is not backing off in any way from the comments he made last night. It is not his role as President to pass judgment on every local project. But it is his responsibility to stand up for the Constitutional principle of religious freedom and equal treatment for all Americans. What he said last night, and reaffirmed today, is that If a church, a synagogue or a Hindu temple can be built on a site, you simply cannot deny that right to those who want to build a Mosque. The World Trade Center site is hallowed ground, where 3000 Americans-Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims were the victims of a cold-blooded massacre. We are still at war with the small band of terrorists who planned and executed that attack. But that does not give government the right to deny law-abiding Americans of one faith the same rights you would accord anyone else.” 

Saturday August 14 - House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) posts the following reaction to the President’s comments on his congressional website:

“The decision to build this mosque so close to Ground Zero is deeply troubling, as is the president’s decision to endorse it. The American people certainly don’t support it. The fact that someone has the right to do something doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing to do. That is the essence of tolerance, peace and understanding. This is not an issue of law, whether religious freedom or local zoning. This is a basic issue of respect for a tragic moment in our history. 

Saturday August 14 - 2008 Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin posts the following reaction to the President’s comments on her Facebook page:

“Mr. President, should they or should they not build a mosque steps away from where radical Islamists killed 3000 people? Please tell us your position. We all know that they have the right to do it, but should they? And, no, this is not above your pay grade. If those who wish to build this Ground Zero mosque are sincerely interested in encouraging positive “cross-cultural engagement” and dialogue to show a moderate and tolerant face of Islam, then why haven’t they recognized that the decision to build a mosque at this particular location is doing just the opposite? Mr. President, why aren’t you encouraging the mosque developers to accept Governor Paterson’s generous offer of assistance in finding a new location for the mosque on state land if they move it away from Ground Zero? Why haven’t they jumped at this offer? Why are they apparently so set on building a mosque steps from what you have described, in agreement with me, as “hallowed ground”? I believe these are legitimate questions to ask.” 

Monday August 16 - Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Executive Director Nihad Awad releases the following reaction to the President’s comments on his organization’s website:

“We welcome President Obama’s strong statement of support for American Muslim religious rights and hope his remarks will serve as encouragement to those who are challenging the rising level of Islamophobia in our society. We urge other national political and religious leaders to speak out in defense of the freedom of religion and equality of all Americans enshrined in our Constitution.”

Pelosi Blasts Boehner Ahead Of House Vote

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded today to criticism over her decision to call her chamber back into session to vote tomorrow on a bill that aims to help states avoid making layoffs.

“Why wouldn’t House Republicans want to keep 310,000 teachers, first responders and private sector workers on the job instead of on the unemployment lines?” Pelosi rhetorically asked.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) commented on NBC’s Meet The Press yesterday that the $26 billion measure is another example of Democratic over-spending.

“The American people are screaming at the top of their lungs to Washington, ‘Stop, stop the spending, stop the job-killing policies,’ and yet Democrats in Washington refuse to listen to the American people,” he said.

Pelosi, however, said Boehner is ignoring the fact that the legislation would not add to the nation’s debt, and accused her GOP counterpart of “opposing a fully paid-for jobs bill that reduces the deficit and keeps teachers in the classroom and police officers on the beat.”

The House will convene tomorrow at 10:00 am, with a final vote on the bill expected to take place in the afternoon.

July Unemployment Rate Holds At 9.5%

Hindered by the loss of thousands of government jobs, the nation’s unemployment rate remained at 9.5% during the month of July, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Department of Labor.

While the private sector added 71,000 jobs, 202,000 government employees lost their jobs, including 143,000 temporary Census workers. State and local governments experienced layoffs as well. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) responded quickly to the report.

“After another disappointing jobs report and the resignation of one of the chief architects of the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus,’ it’s time for President Obama to listen to the American people and face up to the fact that his ‘stimulus’ policies aren’t working,” he said. “How many more times do families and small businesses have to ask ‘where are the jobs’ before President Obama changes course?”

Private sector employment has now increased by 630,000 this year, though roughly two-thirds of those jobs were added during March and April. In July, the manufacturing and healthcare industries experienced gains of 36,000 and 27,000 jobs respectively. Jobs were also added in the mining, transportation and warehousing industries.

Jobs in construction, financial activities and business all fell. In total, 14.6 million Americans remained out of work in July, with 6.6 million of them having now been jobless for nearly seven months. White House Economic Advisor Christina Romer was less than satisfied with the new figures, but said recovery could still be underway.

“We have made substantial progress from the days when employment was declining by 750,000 a month.  But, today’s employment report emphasizes just how important the additional jobs measures before Congress are,” she said. “There will likely be more bumps in the road ahead as the economy recovers. The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and subject to substantial revision. Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative.”

The White House announced early Friday morning that President Obama would make a statement on the new numbers later this afternoon.

Boehner Planning For Future, Says He Would Run House Differently

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters Thursday that if Republicans won the House back in November and if he became Speaker, he would run the House differently than any Democrat or Republican has in the past.

The GOP Leader said that one of his first initiatives would be to invoke transparency legislation that would provide members of Congress and the American people the time they would need to read bills before reaching the floor of the House.

“[This] would give the American people a chance to have their way,” Boehner said. “I think we need to have ‘Read The Bill’ reform, and we need to have it now.”

Optimistically looking into the future, Boehner said that “if we were fortunate enough to be in the majority and if I were fortunate enough to be the Speaker of the House, I’d run the House differently.”

“Read The Bill” reform is legislation that Boehner said would require bills to be displayed online for a three-day review period and “is the first plank of a transparency initiative” Republicans have been pushing for since late 2009.

Boehner said that the Obama administration only believes that they can achieve change by passing giant bills with language that is only fully read on rare occasions.

“For 18 months, we’ve had a government that believes that change is only possible by passing 2,000 page, trillion dollar monstrosities one after another,” Boehner said.