Remarks by the President on the American Jobs Act - Scranton, PA.

[ellisonz]

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
November 30, 2011
Remarks by the President on the American Jobs Act

Scranton High School
Scranton, Pennsylvania

2:37 P.M. EST

Excerpt:

We want an America where hard work is valued and responsibility is rewarded. We’re fighting to rebuild an economy that restores security for the middle class and renews opportunity for folks that are trying to get into the middle class. We’re fighting to build an economy that’s not based on outsourcing and tax loopholes and risky financial schemes, but one that’s built to last -- one where we invest in things like education and small businesses -- (applause) -- an economy that’s built on manufacturing and building things again and selling them all around the world. (Applause.)

And we’re going to keep fighting to make our economy stronger and put our friends and neighbors back to work, to give our young people opportunities greater than the opportunities that we had. (Applause.) That’s what we’ve been doing for the last three years.

But two months ago, I sent a particular piece of legislation to Congress called the American Jobs Act. (Applause.) This is a jobs bill that will put more Americans to work, put more money back in the pockets of working families. It’s contains ideas that historically have been supported by Democrats and Republicans. It’s paid for by asking our wealthiest citizens to pay their fair share. (Applause.) And independent economists said that it would create up to 2 million jobs, and grow the economy by as much as 2 percent. And that’s what we need right now.

Now, here’s the problem -- there is a problem. Folks in Washington don’t seem to be getting the message. When this jobs bill came to a vote, Republicans in the Senate got together and they blocked it. They refused to even debate it. Even though polls showed that two-thirds of Americans of all political stripes supported the ideas in this bill, not one single Republican stepped up to say, this is the right thing to do.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Not one. But here’s the good news, Scranton. Just like you don’t quit, I don’t quit. (Applause.) I don’t quit. So I said, look, I’m going to do everything that I can do without Congress to get things done. (Applause.)

So let’s just take a look over the past several weeks. We said, we can’t wait. We just went ahead and started taking some steps on our own to give working Americans a leg up in a tough economy. For homeowners, I announced a new policy that will help families refinance their mortgages and save thousands of dollars. (Applause.) For all the young people out here -- (applause) -- we reformed our student loan process to make it easier for more students to pay off their debts earlier. (Applause.) For our veterans out here -- and I see some veterans in the crowd -- (applause) -- we ordered several new initiatives to help our returning heroes find new jobs and get trained for those jobs. (Applause.) Because you shouldn’t have to fight for a job when you come home after fighting for America -- you shouldn’t have to do that. (Applause.)

And in fact, last week I was able to sign into law two new tax breaks for businesses that hire veterans, because nobody out here who is a veteran should -- we have to make sure that they are getting the help that they need.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Thank you, Mr. President!

THE PRESIDENT: And by the way, I think we’re starting to get, maybe, to the Republicans a little bit, because they actually voted for this veterans bill. I was glad to see that. (Applause.) I was glad that Democrats and Republicans got together with this bipartisan legislation.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/30/remarks-president-american-jobs-act