Obama On Jobs Bill: No Games, No Politics, No Delays

President Obama announced Monday that he is presenting Congress with the American Jobs Act and urged the legislative body to pass the bill “immediately.”

“This is the bill that Congress needs to pass,” Obama said from the Rose Garden where he was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and a handful of teachers, construction workers, police officers, firefighters and veterans. 

“No games, no politics, no delays,” Obama said. “I’m sending this bill to Congress today and they ought to pass it immediately.” 

Obama ensured that the $447 billion dollar proposal would be paid for in full and would not add a single cent to the deficit. The president said that he will unveil a plan sometime next week that would include details describing how he plans to pay for his jobs bill. The payment plan will also include measures to further reduce the country’s deficit, according to the president.

During his remarks, Obama called on Americans once again to call and email their representatives and urge them to shy away from partisan politics and pass his jobs bill sooner rather than later. 

“The fact of the matter is the next election is 14 months away,” Obama said. “The American people don’t have the luxury of waiting 14 months for Congress to take action.”

GOP Senators Expect More "Hopeless" Policies From Jobs Speech

A group of Republican senators blasted President Obama’s economic policies Thursday previewing his highly anticipated jobs speech.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that he expects more of the same “hopeless” measures from Obama’s speech, but acknowledged that the GOP stands ready to work with him.

“I think tonight you’re going to see, probably, some of the same plays from the same old playbook,” Thune said. “There’s a gap between what [Obama] says and what he does. He says some of the right things but his policies tell an entirely different story.”

Thune was joined by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) who previously opposed Obama’s proposal to spend as much as $300 billion to boost job growth and spur the economy. Sessions argued that spending more would only increase the nation’s debt, something the Alabama Republican said is stalling economic growth.

“The debt is the jobs crisis,” Sessions said. “There’s no doubt about it that the debt of the United States is causing great concern through our entire economy.”

Sessions said he wants to hear the president lay out specifics regarding how Obama plans on paying for his proposals to extend payroll tax cuts and extending jobless benefits that will soon expire. These two measures combined amount to nearly $170 billion in spending.

“I’ll be looking tonight to see if this proposal is, indeed, paid for, or is it just another attempt to gain a sugar high by immediate spending that will increase our debt and will weaken our economy.”

Voters Will Soon Have "Direct Line" To President Obama

Petitions have been used for centuries among Americans taking a stand on issues that matter to them. With the new age of technology, however,  petitions have become even more popular and can be even more effective.

The White House today announced a new way to petition the federal government on an array of issues. 

A soon-to-be-live website, entitled “We The People,” will provide voters with an online platform to directly speak to the White House about issues of importance.

Upon its launch, anyone will be able to create or sign a petition on the WhiteHouse.gov website. If a petition receives enough signatures, the White House staff will review it and pass it along to Obama Administration policy experts who will issue an official response. According to the Associated Press, any petition that receives 5,000 signatures within 30 days of its launch would qualify for an official review.

President Obama will even answer some petitions himself, according to David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President.

“Throughout our history, Americans have used petitions to organize around issues they care about,” Plouffe wrote in an email blast this morning. “We the People gives you a new way to join together with others to ask your government to address a problem, change a policy, or take action on a range of issues.”

In a statement, Obama said the new service will give voters a “direct line to the White House on the issues and concerns that matter most to them.”

Click here to learn more about “We The People” and to be informed as soon as it is launched.

Republicans Promoting Tax Increase On Middle Class?

Democrats joned together Tuesday to criticize Republican leaders for wanting to end a temporary tax cut for employees that could expire at the end of this year.

The tax break at issue is a 2% drop in the payroll tax paid this year by working Americans. The payroll tax funds Social Security. The reduction in the payroll tax rate from 6.2% to 4.2% was agreed to by congressional leaders and the White House last December as part of a short-term spending package. Employers, who pay a matching 6.2% rate, were left out of the deal.

Ironically, Republicans, who generally oppose any and all tax increases (and who generally consider the ending of a tax cut to be the same as a tax hike), have been warm to letting the cut expire on Janurary 1, 2012.

“We don’t need short-term gestures,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, (R-Tenn.) recently. “We need long-term fundamental changes in our tax structure and our regulatory structure that people who create jobs can rely on.”

In addition to Alexander, House leaders Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Dave Camp (R-Mich.) have signaled opposition to keeping the tax break in place on the grounds that it is depleting Social Security funds. Camp and Hensarling will both serve on the new “super-committee” on deficit reduction that will convene after Labor Day.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney also recently weighed in on the matter, saying that he’d prefer to steer the tax break toward employers.

Though the administration estimates that the tax cut will end up costing the federal government around $120 billion in lost revenue this year, the White House has promoted extending it for another year to help out middle class families and individuals who are struggling financially as the nation’s economy continues to show no real signs of blossoming. Another year of paying the lower rate, Obama said, would mean that “families have an extra $1,000 to spend.”

Today, Democrats around the nation held a series of conference calls to hit the GOP over its stance on letting the cut sunset. New Hampshire state Rep. David Watters (D) called Republicans hypocritical due to their continued support of keeping alive the Bush tax cuts for even the wealthiest taxpayers.

“Many of the same Republicans who fought hammer and tongs to keep the George W. Bush income tax from expiring on schedule are now saying different temporary tax cuts should end as planned,” Watters told reporters. “By their own definition, that amounts to a tax increase on the middle class.”

“If you’re wealthier than 98 percent of the country, fly a corporate jet, represent a special-interest hedge-fund, Republicans will fight tooth and nail to make sure you are exempt from paying your fair share,” he added.

The question now is how GOP presidential candidates will respond to their party’s leaders. The next presidential forum is scheduled to take place in South Carolina on August 25. Candidates will debate again in Tampa on September 12.

Syrian Sanctions Will Freeze Assets, Block Oil Imports

Accompanying President Obama’s demand for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down was an executive order freezing all of the Syrian government’s assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting U.S. persons from engaging in any transaction involving the government of Syria. Additionally, a ban has been placed on the U.S. import of Syrian origin of petroleum or petroleum products. Such actions will isolate Assad’s regime entirely from the US financial system. 

To aid in the implementation of the executive order, the US government has identified five state-owned companies that are involved in Syria’s petroleum sector and they expect to discover more US companies financially involved with Syria over the coming weeks.

“We expect this new executive order will disrupt the Syrian regime’s ability to finance its campaign of violence against the Syrian people,” a Senior administration official stated. 

Since protests began in March, the US has imposed sanctions against 32 Syrian and Iranian individuals and entities. Thursday, however, brought a newfound escalation of financial pressure on the Syrian government. 

The U.S. call for Assad’s ouster is part of a growing international reaction. Statements from Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and the European Union (EU) also denounced Assad’s actions and explicitly asked for Assad to resign. 

“Our aim has been to build a strong international effort in support of the universal rights of the Syrian people and to condemn and isolate the regime,” a Senior Administration official told reporters Thursday. 

“We can’t predict how long this transition will take,” the Senior Administration official continued. “Nothing about it is likely to be easy but we’re certain that Assad is on his way out and international pressure will continue to build.”