American Jobs Act

In Congress, a really good law is like a really good movie. If audiences liked it the first time, they're going to love a remake — or two. That appeared to be the logic Tuesday evening as the House debated whether "In God We Trust" should be the national motto. Of course, "In God We Trust" already is the national motto, guaranteed by an act of Congress in 1956. And "In God We Trust" had already been reaffirmed once before as the national motto, by another act of Congress in 2002.

Of all the critiques made of President Obama's performance in the first debate , the most telling, I think, was leveled before the debate — 2,000 years before, more or less. The criticism came in the form of a question, but then, that's how rabbis talk. "If I am not for myself, who shall be for me?" asked Rabbi Hillel — the first of three questions that he believed people needed to ask themselves if they were to lead decent lives. Obama's decline in the polls suggests that Hillel was on to something.

President Obama made an impassioned appeal on Thursday night for $447 billion in tax cuts and government spending to boost the nation's lagging economic recovery, calling on lawmakers to put politics aside and work together to solve the jobs crisis. Before a joint session of Congress, the president announced a package of tax cuts for employers and employees, spending on schools and roads, aid to states to keep teachers in jobs, and assistance for the unemployed. In a plainspoken speech, Obama repeatedly insisted that...

Just before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3, a frustrated President Obama gathered Gene B. Sperling and the economic team in the White House and told them to design a jobs package he could offer the American public. Obama had spent much of the year locked in negotiations with Republicans over the national debt, with little to show for the effort but a sagging approval rating. He had wanted to argue publicly for ideas to create jobs, but hesitated in the midst of negotiations. Liberal critics reprised a familiar critique of the Obama White House:...

The Rev. Al Sharpton is planning a march next month to bolster the president's jobs bill and bring attention to the plight of the unemployed. The march, which will draw labor groups and civil rights organizations, is expected to bring thousands to the Mall on the day before the new memorial honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is officially dedicated, organizers said. Sharpton — who is a civil rights activist, nightly TV host and staunch Obama ally — painted the march on Oct. 15 as...

President Obama will use his State of the Union address on Tuesday to deliver an election-year message focused on economic fairness for the middle class and what he calls "a return to American values. " In a video distributed to campaign supporters Saturday morning, the president said his speech before Congress should be viewed as his "blueprint for an American economy that's built to last," a slogan designed to evoke blue-collar imagery and draw contrasts with his Republican...

Don't fall for it. There is no "new tone" coming from the Republican-controlled House. It's just a remix of the same old song. Anyone who watched President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last week could have guessed that the GOP reaction would be muted . You could scan the chamber and read the contrasting facial expressions: Democrats tended to have wide eyes and broad smiles, while many Republicans winced as if suffering indigestion....

MILLERS CREEK, N.C. —Setting the stage for a long, bruising reelection fight, President Obama returned to this critical battleground state for the second time in as many months on a bus tour that made clear — in pageantry and message — that his campaign is already in full swing. Obama ditched Air Force One after landing in Asheville and climbed aboard a specially equipped black bus to wind his way 106 miles to this tiny town of 2,000, stopping at a barbecue joint and a confectionery store for carefully...

Just before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3, a frustrated President Obama gathered Gene B. Sperling and the economic team in the White House and told them to design a jobs package he could offer the American public. Obama had spent much of the year locked in negotiations with Republicans over the national debt, with little to show for the effort but a sagging approval rating. He had wanted to argue publicly for ideas to create jobs, but hesitated in the midst of negotiations. Liberal critics reprised a familiar critique of the...

After crisscrossing the country for weeks pushing his jobs plan directly to the American people, President Obama turned his attention to congressional Republicans on Thursday, promising to target them in 2012 if they stand in the way of his economic agenda. "If Congress does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing Congress," Obama said in response to a question at a morning news conference . "If Congress does nothing, then it's not a matter of me running against them.

President Obama will use his State of the Union address on Tuesday to deliver an election-year message focused on economic fairness for the middle class and what he calls "a return to American values. " In a video distributed to campaign supporters Saturday morning, the president said his speech before Congress should be viewed as his "blueprint for an American economy that's built to last," a slogan designed to evoke blue-collar imagery and draw contrasts with his Republican rivals.

In Congress, a really good law is like a really good movie. If audiences liked it the first time, they're going to love a remake — or two. That appeared to be the logic Tuesday evening as the House debated whether "In God We Trust" should be the national motto. Of course, "In God We Trust" already is the national motto, guaranteed by an act of Congress in 1956. And "In God We Trust" had already been reaffirmed once before as the national motto, by another act of Congress in 2002.

Nine days after President Obama's $447 billion jobs package was blocked in the U.S. Senate, one of the plan's key components — which would provide $35 billion to states and local governments to hire teachers and first responders — suffered the same fate late Thursday. The vote represented the legislative part of a strategy by Democrats to convince voters that they are pushing popular job-creation bills that are being thwarted by Republican opposition. All 47 Republicans voted against...

MILLERS CREEK, N.C. —Setting the stage for a long, bruising reelection fight, President Obama returned to this critical battleground state for the second time in as many months on a bus tour that made clear — in pageantry and message — that his campaign is already in full swing. Obama ditched Air Force One after landing in Asheville and climbed aboard a specially equipped black bus to wind his way 106 miles to this tiny town of 2,000, stopping at a barbecue joint and a confectionery store for...

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HOLDS A NEWS CONFERENCE OCTOBER 6, 2011 OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. I will take your questions in a second, but first I just want to say a few words about the economy. Next week the Senate will vote on the American Jobs Act. And I think by now I've made my views pretty well known. Some of you are even keeping a tally of how many times I've talked about the American Jobs Act. And the reason I keep going around the country talking about this jobs...

After crisscrossing the country for weeks pushing his jobs plan directly to the American people, President Obama turned his attention to congressional Republicans on Thursday, promising to target them in 2012 if they stand in the way of his economic agenda. "If Congress does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing Congress," Obama said in response to a question at a morning news conference . "If Congress does nothing, then it's not a matter of me running against them.

SAN JOSE — President Obama opened a West Coast fundraising blitz Sunday with appearances at four events in Seattle and San Jose as his reelection campaign sought to make up ground after a series of summer setbacks. With his popularity fading in national polls, Obama challenged his supporters to "shake off any doldrums" and recapture the yes-we-can attitude of his historic 2008 campaign. "We need that spirit now more than ever," he told an estimated crowd of 800, including basketball legend Bill Russell, at the Paramount...

When President Obama takes the stage Saturday for his annual address to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, it is certain to be a warm and festive affair, but probably a little less festive and lot more more urgent than on previous occasions. In the audience will be Rep. Maxine Waters (D), the California congresswoman who has been a lead critic of the president and his administration for not being sufficiently focused on the stubborn problem of black unemployment....

The Rev. Al Sharpton is planning a march next month to bolster the president's jobs bill and bring attention to the plight of the unemployed. The march, which will draw labor groups and civil rights organizations, is expected to bring thousands to the Mall on the day before the new memorial honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is officially dedicated, organizers said. Sharpton — who is a civil rights activist, nightly TV host and staunch Obama ally — painted the march on Oct. 15 as...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Finally, an unemployed American whom President Obama was happy to hear from. During a town-hall style event here at the Computer History Museum, Obama was answering tough questions about his $447 billion American Jobs Act when he called on a man in sitting in the back row of the audience. The man, balding and wearing glasses, stood to explain he was unemployed. Uh-oh. But, the man continued, he was no longer working because he had made a lot of money in a start-up company down...