The American Jobs Act.

[veganlush]

Has EVERYONE here called their House Rep and demanded this bill be passed? [phone] ( Congressional Switch board)

[rhett o rick]

1. Toll free numbers at Thom Hartmann's website.

http://www.thomhartmann.com/community/contact-congress.

Thom's staff tries to keep current the listing of toll free numbers to Congress.

Make multiple calls. Call your legislators, call my legislators, call Reid and the boner.

[spin]

2. I hate to say this but ...

I am becoming distrustful of bills that have to be passed RIGHT NOW!

From what I have heard, it does indeed look like a worthwhile piece of legislation but the devil might be in the details. The big stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 seemed to do a lot for Wall Street and the Big Banks but little for Main Street. While it did have some positive upsides, the shovel ready projects it was supposed to create were not ready at all.

I understand that if the Republicans oppose the bill, which they will, Obama will use their resistance to win reelection. I would like Obama to have a second term but I personally know many people who are suffering today because they can't find work.

Now might be the time for both Democrats and Republicans to work together to solve the job problem, but I fear that both sides will once again play politics and continue to act like unsupervised school children in a playground.

We don't need another good fight with lots of heated rhetoric from both sides. We need a solution that actually works. I would rather see both sides work together for a month to produce a really good bill than quickly pass another plan which might prove ineffective.

Of course, the problem is that the Republicans have little interest in seeing the economy improve. That's what drives me crazy about out current government. We elected representatives to run our country and make it a better place but the day after they are elected they all immediately begin to plot how to sabotage any positive ideas the members of the other party have.

It like our nation is a galley where none of the rowers row in sync, some do not row at all and a few are drilling holes in the bottom of the boat. The object is to get to galley to the other shore, but the best we can currently hope for is to end up going in circles getting nowhere. The worst may be that we sink the boat and have to swim for the other shore.

[polmaven]

3. You may have all the time in the world

to wait...for many, however, it needs to be passed yesterday! As the president said, many do not have the luxury of waiting.

[CrazyBob]

4. ...then why did he wait till the election season to propose it?

No thanks. I will vote for Obama, but I am not sticking my neck out for any of his policies. Especially election-year ones. Especially ones that have to be done right away. Nope.

[Inuca]

6. Why did he wait?

I obviously cannot know for sure, but:
- things were moving in the right direction, slowly, too slowly, but definitely in teh right direction. And then they stopped.
- there was a recent re-evaluation of how bad things actually got back in 08, read about it, also saw it on Rachel. I do not remember the exact numbers, but they were quite stunning, GDP dropping 4 time (I think, don't quote me on this) as much as they forst thought.

So no, I do not think it is just a re-election ploy, though politics surely play a role.

[BklnDem75]

11. Silly argument

2011 is the primary season, not the election season. Or is this just a way to gripe for two years instead of one?

[CrazyBob]

14. ...and you said MY argument was silly

Thats your whole point? The distinction between the primaries and the general election? Thats your whole point? Thats it?

[BklnDem75]

16. Pretty much

You gave the reason that it's election season as your reason for not backing anything this President presents. Was you expecting me to change your way of thinking after that? Really?

[CrazyBob]

20. You missed the whole boat

I didn't say I was "not backing anything this President presents." Maybe you are reliving an argument you had with another poster.(?)

You should be asking the same question I am asking. If (any policy) is so urgent, why now? Why wasn't it just as urgent and just as wise 6 months ago?

[BklnDem75]

21. Not sure why you feel that question's important

He was dealing with a the budget, which was the crisis of that moment. While jobs are certainly important, keeping this ship upright is equally important.

[CrazyBob]

22. Just my opinion...

but it sounds like you don't think much of President Obama.

A crisis isn't a crisis because of a politician's schedule. I am sure the President knows better than that.

[BklnDem75]

23. Thanks for making it easier to judge the value of your opinion

I actually understand he's a President and not a Führer.

[jefferson_dem]

12. So he's a lame duck for the remainder of his term?

How quaint.

[CrazyBob]

15. No

Thats not what we were talking about. The previous poster suggested that the bill has to be passed immediately because there are a lot of people who need the help and can't wait. My question was, then why did he wait till now to propose it? Its a fair question.

[spin]

8. I understand what you are saying ...

However if we just push the new Obama plan through without looking at the details there is a possibility that a much better bill could be created if we considered his plan for a couple of weeks or a month.

Also by insisting that Congress pass the plan RIGHT NOW Obama practically guarantees that the Republicans in the House will vote it down.

We have had a major problem creating jobs for the last three years. Maybe the people we elected should have been working to correct this problem months ago.

In my opinion it's far better to take a month or two and pass a bill that actually does work to create jobs or at least take the time to carefully consider Obama's plan to be certain that it is a good idea before we once again pass in haste what might be a foolish piece of legislation that only benefits the Big Banks and Wall Street.

Why does everything have to wait until it's an absolute emergency. If a grease fire starts on my kitchen stove, I yell for someone to call 911 and attempt to put the fire out by covering it with a pan lid or pouring baking soda on it. I don't stand by watching and hoping that the fire will go out by itself and when the fire starts to spread yelling for everyone in the house to grab pans of water to throw on the fire.

If I did, I would hope that someone would take the time to point out to me that pouring water on a grease fire is a bad idea and instead grabbing the dry chemical fire extinguisher in the corner of the kitchen is a far better plan.

[bigdarryl]

5. Don't worry about the democrats call these republican districts mainly these tea fucks

[vaberella]

19. I couldn't agree more. We know how the Dems will vote. It's the Repubs we don't know. n/t

[whosinpower]

7. You elected them to do a job

And that job was to make sure your nation is safe and secure - environmentally, judiciously, and ecnomically.

When those players REFUSE to do the job that is required of them - by all means phone them, talk to them and DEMAND action.

Because right now - they just want Obama to fail. So much so that they will refuse anything he offers - even though they may have come up with the idea in the first place.

With unemployment hovering past 9 percent - I know of millions who would eagerly do the job that they currently have. Time for them to get to work - TO MAKE AMERICA A BETTER PLACE. And if they don't - then fire them at the next available opportunity.

[spin]

9. I believe ...

that if the economy does not improve by the next election, you will see a lot a new faces in Congress. Many who have held office for years and years will find themselves unemployed and that includes both Republicans and Democrats.

Hopefully the Tea Party will lose support as their ideas would destroy our nation if ever implemented. What would have happened if this nation had a balanced budget amendment in the Constitution at the time of WWII? I would probably be typing my posts in German on a forum named The National Socialist American Workers' Party Underground.

However if the long term members of Congress want to continue to hold their positions of power and privilege, it might be wise for them to wake up and start acting like adults rather than school children and work together to solve the problems our nation faces.

I'm now 65 and I have never seen so many people angry at Congress and its inability to function. People used to laugh at "do nothing" Congresses and say that it's better to have an incompetent government than one that actually does something. Those days are gone. Today the voters want action and they also want results.

[whosinpower]

10. The "do nothing" Congress

Overstepped itself with the debt ceiling fiasco - which directly resulted in a weak economy falling back into recession.

There is a direct correlation. I run a business. All the talk of debt, default, dried up all interest in buying and spending. I do not believe for one second that it was coincidence....so Joe Public suddenly knows for a certainty - that government doing nothing can have a severe impact on the economy. The feeble threads of confidence wiped away in an instant as the Teaparty declared it was better to default and let uncertainty of the US ability to service its debt to thrive. Hell.....even Wall Street screeched that this was a bridge too far.

S&P downgrades the US creditworthiness - BECAUSE OF UNCERTAINTY EMMANATING FROM CONGRESS ABILITY TO DO ITS JOB.

I have not failed to notice that the Tea party rallies no longer attract many people. I have not failed to notice that they have been forced to cancel events because of LACK OF INTEREST. (and have been sued to pay what they owed)

The GOP find themselves wedged between a hammer and a vise. They put themselves there. Obama may be the hammer - but the american public are the cast iron vise.

[MrSlayer]

13. I don't need to, my Rep is great.

Always votes the right way.

[frazzled]

17. On a phone call today, the President said to call your Dem rep anyway

This was a conference call this afternoon. He said you should first call your Democratic representatives (and senators), because they need to know how many people are behind this and we need to light a fire under them. They need to know that you expect them to go out and talk to people and talk the bill up, not just sit there and vote. He said then go ahead and call your Republican rep. anyway, even though many will vote no--but some will feel compelled to respond to their constituents.

I used to think it was unnecessary to call my solid Democratic senators and reps--and I've had some doozies: Paul Wellstone, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, and now Dick Durbin. But you know what? Call them anyway. In fact, as the President said, call them FIRST.

[MrSlayer]

18. Makes sense.

I'll drop Mr. Brady a line tomorrow.

[Phx_Dem]

24. Thank you!! And yes I have.

:D

[femmocrat]

25. I did, but it won't matter. He's a repuke.

Didn't hurt to try, though.