Boehner Pitches Two-Year Tax Freeze, Reduced Spending

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) proposed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday a two-year tax freeze on current U.S. tax rates, including the Bush tax cuts.

Boehner appeared on the show preluding remarks by President Barack Obama where he is scheduled to speak in the lawmaker’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio pitching a trio of his own economic proposals. 

The Minority Leader called on the White House as being “out of touch” with the American people and proposed a reduction in next year’s spending to 2008 levels to compliment his tax freeze pitch. 

“If we’re able to do this together, I think we’ll show the American people that we understand what’s going on in the country and we’ll be able to get our economy moving again and get jobs growing in America,” Boehner said.

Boehner’s nationally televised remarks come on the heels of a New York Times Op-Ed submitted by Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag. In his article, Orszag endorsed the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans for two years before letting them expire. Orszag said that letting the tax cuts expire too soon could deal a heavy blow to an already struggling jobs market.

“Let’s continue the tax cuts for two years but end them for good in 2013,” Orszag said.

President Sees Positive Results In Recent Labor Stats

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released some arguably disappointing employment numbers for July, but President Barack Obama touted the progress that the private sector is making and acknowledged that Americans need faster relief.

“July’s job numbers reflect in part expected loss related to the Census winding down,” Obama said. “But the fact is, we’ve now added private sector jobs every month this year instead of losing them.. that’s a good sign.”
 
The president also credited progress to the addition of 183,000 jobs to the manufacturing sector. Obama said the recent revival of Ford, GM and Chrysler, two of which were on the verge of bankruptcy, is testament to continuing progress in the industry.

“All three U.S. automakers are posting a profit for the first time since 2004,” Obama touted. “Since they emerged, the auto industry has added 76,000 jobs, that’s the good news.”

Obama acknowledged the notion that, although progress is increasingly evident, change is not materializing fast enough for American families. He praised the Senate for passing legislation Thursday that boosts aid to states in an effort to keep teachers and other public officers on states’ payroll.

“Speaker Pelosi said she’s going to bring the House back in session to pass this bill, and as soon as they do, I’m ready to sign it into law,” Obama said. “[We] need to speed our recovery so it reaches the people and places who need relief not a year from now, not six months from now, but now, right now.”

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.

Obama Defends Auto Bailout During Visit To Chicago Ford Plant

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

“America’s automakers have added 55,000 jobs since last June,” said President Barack Obama at a Ford facility on Thursday. “And over the next two months, this plant will bring on a second shift of 1,200 workers…nearly doubling your workforce,” he added.

After recent visits to GM and Chrysler plants, Obama followed up his 49th birthday by touring a Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Chicago. While reiterating the success of the administration’s decision to bail out the auto industry, Obama also applauded Ford’s ability to survive the recession without taking government funds.

“Ford was in better financial shape and was able to weather the storm without federal assistance,” said Obama to an audience of 1,700 employees, industry representatives, elected officials, and community and labor leaders.

“That’s a testament to the hard work you all do and the choices this company made.”

The President also announced a new $250 million Export-Import Bank loan guarantee for Ford that will support the company’s efforts to sell cars overseas and increase opportunities for jobs. 

“This [loan guarantee] will help Ford export more than 200,000 cars and trucks…that means more production and more manufacturing jobs,” said the President.

The loan initiative, Obama said, is one of several efforts the administration is making to help fulfill a pledge he made during his State of the Union address to double America’s exports of goods and services in the next five years.

“We’re going to support millions of good jobs for American workers to do what they’ve always done: build great products and sell them around the world,” said the President. 

Black Tea Party Members Deny Movement Is Racist

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

On Wednesday, a handful of black conservative and Tea Party activists held a news conference Wednesday to dismiss allegations of racism within the right-wing movement.

“This is not a movement driven by race,” said Selena Owens, a member of the Tea Party Express. “We are not racist…[and] we will not allow those in the media or political left to censor or censure us with false and derogatory statements and smears.”

Alan Keyes, a former Ambassador and Presidential candidate, said that President Barack Obama was elected by a “virulent form of racism” and compared the President’s agenda to a slave owner’s.

“What did it mean to be a slave?” Keyes said. “Your master guaranteed your food, your clothing, your shelter and a job…that’s exactly what the Obama faction and the leftists…want to pretend all Americans should aspire to.”

Another speaker, radio talk show host Herman Cain, said that the false accusations were a liberal strategy to divide the movement and deflect attention from what he dubbed the Democrat’s “failed policies.”

“When they [Democrats] do not succeed…they resort to name calling,” said Cain.

The group harshly attacked Obama and the Democratic party by calling them elitists that had “re-enslaved America.”

President of the Black Conservative Coalition Kevin Jackson accused Obama of referring to blacks as “mongrels,” and blamed the Democratic agenda for why blacks are the leading the nation in unemployment, high school dropout, neighborhood crime and abortion rates.
 
When directly asked about the incident involving Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) allegedly being called a racial slur by a Tea Party member amid March’s health care reform vote, the speakers emphatically stressed that there was no evidence that anyone from the Tea Party movement directed a racial slur at him.

The group maintained that any evdence suggesting racism could be the result of nonmembers infiltrating the organization in order to “brand” the Tea Party as racist.