Jobs Bill Can Help Guard Against Another Downturn, Claims Obama

In his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama asked people to tell their senators to support his $450 billion jobs bill.

He said the bill will provide our economy with the jolt that it really needs right now.

Obama's jobs plan aims at reducing payroll taxes on workers and employers, extending benefits to long-term unemployed people, spending money on public works projects and helping states and local governments keep teachers, police officers and firefighters on the job.

Obama has been lobbying against the Republican opposition to the bill since he unveiled it a month ago. He is pushing for the plan to show the public that Republicans are standing in the way.

The President said the bill can help guard against another downturn here in America.”

But if we don't act, the opposite will be true. There will be fewer jobs and weaker growth. So any senator out there who's thinking about voting against this jobs bill needs to explain why they would oppose something that we know would improve our economic situation, he added.

Obama proposed paying for his ambitious plan by closing tax loopholes for oil and gas companies and raising taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000. However, Senate Democrats rejected those proposals. They substituted a tax on millionaires, with Obama's agreement.

The senators are preparing to vote Tuesday on moving to debate on the measure. Even if Democrats were able to muster the necessary Republican support for Senate passage, the legislation stands no chance of getting through the Republican-controlled House since Republicans are opposed to much of the new spending in the bill and to tax hikes even on millionaires, according to Associated Press.