Details and excerpts of President Obama’s plan to spur job creation and economic growth began to leak out Thursday evening ahead of Obama’s joint address to Congress scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities,” Obama plans to say, according to brief excerpts of the speech. “The question tonight is whether we’ll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning.”
“Those of us here tonight cannot solve all of our nation’s woes,” the speech continues. “Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers. But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives.”
The total package, called The American Jobs Act, will be larger than $300 billion, according to sources with detailed information about the plan, with some reports placing the figure at $450 billion. As the White House has said throughout the week, the proposal includes plans to offset the total costs, although the administration has yet to spell out details of the cost savings.
The President plans to send the legislation to Congress next week.
“I am sending this Congress a plan that you should pass right away,” Obama will say. “It’s called the American Jobs Act. There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything.”
A small business component will cut employer payroll taxes in half with a limit of the first $5 million. It will also provide a tax break for hiring additional employees and increasing the payroll and allow for 100 percent expensing of business costs. To help middle class employees, as well as businesses, the proposal extends the 2 percent employee payroll tax cut next year.
The proposal also aims to help unemployed veterans by providing a tax credit to businesses that hire them and provides funds to help states rehire 200,000 teachers and modernize and renovate 35,000 schools across the country. Additional funds will go to help neighborhoods devastated by the housing crisis renovate abandoned homes and buildings with the money going straight to the mayors and counties, not to state governments.
For the long-term unemployed, the plan provides an extension of unemployment benefits, and gives businesses a $4,000 tax cut for hiring people who have been out of work six months or more. In addition, it includes language making it a crime to discriminate against the long-term unemployed.
“The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working,” Obama plans to say. “It will create more jobs for construction workers, more jobs for teachers, more jobs for veterans, and more jobs for the long-term unemployed. It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business. It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled, and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire, there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away.”
