Debt law signed, attention turns to jobs

August 3, 2011

USA Today

Richard Wolf, Gregory Korte, and David Jackson

WASHINGTON — The historic legislation passed and signed into law was about deficits and debt, but all anyone wanted to talk about was jobs.

President Obama and the bipartisan leaders of Congress, who argued and negotiated for months to cut spending and raise the nation's borrowing limit in the nick of time, eagerly moved on Tuesday to what they hope will be a more popular cause.

The almost singular focus on measures that might create jobs was a recognition that voters care far more about their own finances than the $14.3 trillion hole the nation is in. No matter how much of either party's agenda gets passed before the 2012 elections, they each hope the debate improves their chances of re-election.

"Anything that moves is going to be called a jobs agenda pretty soon," quipped Bruce Josten, chief lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Even before signing the debt bill, which is meant to raise the government's borrowing limit by more than $2 trillion and cut budget deficits over 10 years by a similar amount, Obama came to the White House Rose Garden to promote his jobs agenda.

Tops on the president's list: another year of payroll tax cuts for workers and, possibly, their employers; an extension of unemployment insurance benefits; passage of free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama; clearing a three-year backlog of pending patent applications; and creating an "infrastructure bank" that provides federal loans to private companies.

The problem for the president is that most of those proposals cost money and, in an era of deficit reduction, will have to be paid for. The 2-percentage-point cut in payroll taxes enacted in December, for instance, cost the Treasury $112 billion.

Most likely to win congressional approval in the fall are the trade deals, favored by most Republicans and moderate Democrats despite opposition from organized labor. They have been delayed by a political dispute over trade adjustment assistance for displaced workers.

The patent legislation has passed the House and Senate, but the two versions must be reconciled before Obama can sign it. Proponents such as Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid say it could create up to 270,000 jobs, though business groups say that's an exaggeration.

Republicans are less inclined to cut payroll taxes or extend unemployment benefits again, since they're costly and do not lead directly to new jobs. The infrastructure bank is a long-shot for the fall.

Both the Senate and House Republicans have their own jobs agendas for the fall. They include the trade agreements and patent bill as well as longer-term goals such as reducing government regulations, increasing energy production and reducing individual and corporate tax rates.

"Every meeting I'm in talks about the regulatory burden that we're experiencing throughout the American economy — massive increases in regulation," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

Organized labor is fighting to reauthorize the Surface Transportation Act and fully fund the Federal Aviation Administration, which has been partially shut down while the House and Senate argue over new legislation.

"We have a jobs emergency," said AFL-CIO lobbyist Bill Samuel. "We should be passing whatever measures we can."

<- Go Back