Obama jobs plan to push substantial tax relief-aide

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Reuters

U.S. President Barack Obama will announce a jobs plan that would provide "meaningful" tax relief and include a strategy for helping the nation's long-term unemployed, a top White House aide told Reuters Insider on Friday.

National Economic Council director Gene Sperling spoke after the release of a U.S. payrolls report that showed zero job creation in August.

Obama's plan, due on Thursday, will include measures to cut taxes for workers and small businesses, and will also outline a strategy to combat long-term unemployment, Sperling said.

"He will be very specific about what we can do that can have a meaningful impact on job growth in the economy right away," Sperling said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/02/usa-economy-sperling-idUSN1E7811GX20110902

[DJ13]

1. Yay, more conservative tax cuts!

They dont work, I would have thought the last 10 years of low taxes and no jobs would have been enough to convince rational people of that.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. They work, sort of...

...depending on at whom they're targeted.

They also pass.

Massive jobs programs don't.

[highprincipleswork]

4. Oh yes, let's be "pragmatic".

Love the way that the President has everyone singing the "pragmatic" song. As if President Bush, with all his failings, didn't get policy after policy passed, no matter how ill-informed they were or how little support he had in Congresss.

Great way to run excuses, and not even try to get something legitimate done.

What a warmed over crock of bullshit, all--around.

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. I remember vividly..

...how Bush was able to privatize social security in the teeth of a Congress and people opposed to it.

That and his invasion of Iran certainly stick out in my mind.

Bully pulpit and such.

[No Elephants]

14. Those were two horrific ideas, though. Are you saying jobs are in that category?

Also, please remind me when Bush asked Congress to declare war on Iran. Besides, he probably could have done that under the WOT resolution. It's probably plenty broad enough.

[Davis_X_Machina]

18. Those are the signal legislative accomplishments...

..of Bush's second term.

I'm sure you remember how he sold them to the American people, and Congress was bludgeoned into approving both of them.

[No Elephants]

45. I remember his trying to sell privatization of Social Security, but not a war on Iran.

But, again, neither of those is remotely comparable to jobs, so unless you are going to address that point, this seems pointless,

[No Elephants]

11. Then why is unemployment so high?

[Davis_X_Machina]

16. Collapse of aggregate demand....

...for which the solutions are known.

Put money in the hands of people likely to spend it. (Payroll tax holiday, e.g. Extending UI.)
Put people to work who don't have jobs, or are at risk of losing them. (WPA-style jobs programs, money to states to forestall state layoffs, e.g.)

Now go get them through this particular Congress. Not the one we could elect, or will elect someday. This one.

[Demit]

33. The payroll tax holiday subtracts money from SS & Medicare.

Giving more ammunition to the Repubs whose goal is to destroy those programs. They'll point to how there's less money in the coffers, and argue that we 'can't afford' them. And Obama will have abetted them.

What I'd like to see from a Democratic president is a fighter for Democratic ideas. Not conceding beforehand because he can't win. This is a timid man we put into the White House.

[No Elephants]

47. Bingo.

[Liberalynn]

53. Totally agree

[placton]

37. Davis

please please dont bother the grownups here, and elsewhere, with your attempts to tell us Obama is doing just fine. You see, we prefer to believe our own eyes, my friend.

[No Elephants]

48. +1

You're absolutely right. That is the way to go.

Sometimes, I am just too damned earnest and naive.

[No Elephants]

46. Extending unemployment is very different from both a payroll tax holiday and more tax breaks for

business and the rich.

Employing people is the way to revive demand. And part of that is to stop giving tax breaks to employers for offshoring.

[girl gone mad]

20. The superior Democratic strategy would be to fight hard for the jobs programs..

even if they can't pass.

[Davis_X_Machina]

24. At the expense of the tax breaks?

Remember, there are three parties in Congress, but only two labels.

1. Democrats who are Democrats.
2. Democrats who are Republicans.
3. Republicans who are Republicans.

Two of those three parties are allergic to jobs programs. Remember the original jobs/tax breaks balance -- heavier on tax breaks than any of us wanted -- in the '09 stimulus bill was determined not by Republicans, but by Democrats of type 2.

[24601]

34. Your math is off as there are also Independents who caucus with

Democrats, two of whom are in the Senate.

And if you think that Republicans don't have RINOs, then you haven't spent sufficient time trying to understand internal party dynamics.

[Davis_X_Machina]

40. The two independents are....

...for all intents and purposes, a Democrat who's a Democrat, and a Republican. So they don't really move the needle.

[No Elephants]

49. Not really. How Lieberman votes very much depends on the issue being voted on..

And Sanders is so different from a typical Senate Democrat and from Obama that it is not even funny.

[Davis_X_Machina]

41. When Olympia Snowe...

...and Susan Collins vote in lock-step with the rest of the caucus, there's no such thing as a RINO, not in the Senate.

[No Elephants]

50. They don't vote in lockstep with the Caucus on every cloture vote. Neither does Brown.

[Tiggeroshii]

31. Tax breaks for the working and middle class work. NOT those for the rich.

What he needs to do is create substantial tax breaks for the middle and working class, in order to create greater spending and boost the economy. Then tax the fuck out of the rich while continue the same kind of tax breaks after we get rid of the Republican Congress.

[Davis_X_Machina]

42. What happens if you can only get both kinds...

...or neither?

[Tiggeroshii]

43. I think they cancel each other out...

=\

[indepat]

21. But the good new is those tax likely will be paid for by deeper cuts in social security and

Medicare. That RW solutions to problems created by RW policies never have worked surely is known to all. :shrug: :patriot:

[Davis_X_Machina]

27. Deeper than what cuts?

When did we pass the cuts?

[indepat]

39. They're in the works, a done-deal: the grand bargain assures this and the stage has been opened

for repugs to insist on deep cuts in social security and Medicare every year rather than reduce MIC spending or raise taxes on Warren's class or large highly profitable corporations, many of which pay no US Federal income taxes. :patriot:

[roguevalley]

22. WTF? How are we going to pay any bills this way? WTF!

[n2doc]

3. oh joy. Reagan lite again

We already know just how well tax breaks work in creating jobs. We have had the last 10 years of evidence.

[No Elephants]

12. Reagan LITE?

Jeez, Bubba wasn't even Reagan Lite.

[Harmony Blue]

5. More tax cuts is the jobs plan?

Is this conjecture or is this real? :-(

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. It is what his chief economic advisor is saying

[No Elephants]

13. Wait until you hear about the infrastructure bank.

[xchrom]

7. Oh well. Nt

[RKP5637]

8. Sounds like same old sh**. I'm trying to optimistic, but right now

it doesn't sound like major initiatives to me.

[Itchinjim]

9. Do I know the specific of the plan? No. But it does mention tax cuts. So as a DUer its time to

LIGHT MY HAIR ON FIRE!!!!!!! ARGGGGGH!!!!! OBAMA IS A REPUBICAN!!!!!SOMEBODY PRIMARY HIM!!!!!! OH WOE !!!!!

[No Elephants]

17. Anything of substance to add on topic? Anything at all?

[Itchinjim]

19. Not until I hear the specifics of the plan.

Might help if some on Du did the same.

[No Elephants]

51. Okay, let's never post on anything until every fact is in. Meanwhile his administration said this.

[tandot]

30. Apparently, cutting taxes for workers is now a bad thing

at least according to most of the responses from DUers here.

Here is what it said:

"...cut taxes for workers and small businesses..."

[placton]

38. Itchin

yes you are right, and I know you will apologize after each and every one of our predictions come true, right?

[No Elephants]

52. Sorry, apologies are not the message board way.

[on point]

15. More supply side tax cut nonsense that DOESN'T WORK!!

When is the conventional wisdom of tax cuts for the wealthy and supply side economics going to shown to be the fraud that it is???

It simply doesn't work. 30 years of this nonsense, combined with deregulation, has got us in the mess we are in now.

No business is going to hire workers when there is no demand for their product.

It is demand side stupid, not supply side that needs to be pumped up.

Ditch the stupid Chicago School of Economics and go back and study Economics 101. Pay Attention to a guy named Keynes, not the joker called Laffer!

Jeeesh. When are these folks going to going to get a clue????

[SoapBox]

23. NO, NO, NO! This ticks me off....

You, as either a "worker" or "small business" MUST have an actual income, in order to get "tax" relief.

If you are not even working...or are barely getting some money, a tax "break" simply is not going to help.

Regarding "small business"...we know MANY small business owners (including us!) that aren't even
making a "profit" (why the hell all of us continue to beat our heads against the wall is beyond me...most
of us should just shut the hell down, HOWEVER, we all owe, owe, owe for equipment and are locked
into price-gouging rent!). SO, to get that BIG break, you need to be making NET, repeat NET profit!

Until we do something with all this Free-Trade crap, where the jobs are shipped to slave labor countries,
we will never get any place. There needs to be manufacturing returned here AND you need to be
able to make a living wage...NOT part-time, temporary minimum wage jobs.

...ticks me off.

P.S...I will also add, all of Obama's stuff is on the FEDERAL level...What the Federal government eliminates or eases, the local state, county and city just add back! This EQUALS....NO RELIEF!!!!!!!

[dipsydoodle]

25. US economy: No new jobs added in August

The US economy added no net new jobs in August, according to the key non-farm payrolls figures from the Department of Labor.

The August number was much worse than had been expected - the predicted figure was an addition of about 70,000 new jobs.

The unemployment rate remained unchanged from July at 9.1%.

In addition, the figures for the previous two months were revised down to show weaker jobs growth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14763093

[DJ13]

28. No new jobs added in August

And they probably fudged those numbers just to keep a negative number out of the news.

Look for a revision next month to reflect the real number, which is too late to effect the stock market (which is the point, I guess).

[MannyGoldstein]

26. Trickle-down, but this time it will REALLY work

No, seriously.

[msongs]

29. Gee is Boner going to write the speech? nt

[alp227]

32. Workers and small businesses? Cool. Now...TAX MILLIONAIRES AND BILLIONAIRES

and transnational corporation too! And I'm not too excited as many of you probably are. On my local public radio station I heard a soundbite of Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland, Berkeley, and vicinity of Ca.) saying that Obama needed to be bold.

[Imajika]

35. Most of the tax cuts will pass...

The infrastructure bank and jobs programs won't go anywhere.

From the Republican point of view, they will get to seem reasonable and agree with the President on a few of the items on his agenda - the tax cuts.

From the average workers point of view, they will get an extension of tax cuts which does keep more money in their pocket.

The unemployed get nothing.

The economy might get something of a boost from whatever passes, but without really big changes we might just be in store for slow growth.

[placton]

36. and let's have workers, work for free!!

just like in Georgia - as they did after the Civil War also - black ones mostly

[dmosh42]

44. What happened to the re-building infrastructure ideas?

[gkhouston]

54. Yeah, it'll have a "meaningful impact on job growth".

Too bad it won't be a positive one.