Washington: Republican lawmakers are rejecting President Barack Obama's $447 billion (Dh1.6 trillion) job-creation plan in its entirety and expressing scepticism about its pieces, creating doubt about whether it can overcome obstacles in Congress.
As Obama tries to rally public support behind tax breaks and spending on schools and bridges, the reaction on Capitol Hill indicates that only a few fragments of the plan may become law — most likely tax cuts to promote consumer demand and hiring. Many Republicans dismiss Obama's proposal as a warmed-over version of the 2009 stimulus law they opposed.
"I just don't see much Republican support in the Senate for hardly anything that's been out there so far, and especially when they put the pay-fors forward," John Thune of South Dakota, the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate, said. "I mean, that's just a complete non-starter."
Republicans, who have ideas about how to lower unemployment by limiting regulation and expanding domestic oil production, aren't ceding ideological or political ground to the administration. Beyond that, the Senate's Democratic leader isn't rushing to bring Obama's proposal to the floor as he focuses on other legislation such as disaster assistance. Also, some rank-and-file Democrats have complained about the tax increases in the bill.
Proposal
Obama proposes paying for the measure with a cap on some deductions and exclusions for high-income taxpayers, along with tax increases for private equity firms, oil and gas companies and corporate jet owners. Democrats and Republicans have objected to the cap on tax breaks, and the other revenue-raising proposals haven't advanced in the past.
With 14 months until he faces re-election and a 9.1 per cent unemployment rate, the president has been travelling across the country telling the public to press Congress to "pass this bill", though the bill itself is likely to be carved up.
"We've got to tell Congress to do their part," Obama said in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday. "You've got some Republicans in Congress, they like to talk about how ‘We're in favour of America's job creators'. Well, you know what, if you're in favour of America's job creators, this is your bill."
House Speaker John Boehner said in a Washington speech on Thursday that some of Obama's proposals "offer opportunities for common ground". He wasn't specific, and he didn't signal that House leaders felt any urgency to advance the plan.
Poor substitute
"Let's be honest with ourselves," Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said. "The president's proposals are a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America."
The White House has been pressing for passage of the entire bill. Obama political adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday that the administration is "not in a negotiation to break up the package" and Republicans shouldn't consider it an "a la carte menu".
Still, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters later in the day that Obama wouldn't veto partial measures. If Congress were to "send a portion of the American Jobs Act, the president would of course not veto it," Carney said. "He would sign it and then he would return to press the Congress to get the job done."
