MJ Rosenberg

MJ Rosenberg

Posted February 8, 2009 | 11:06 AM (EST)

Obama: Use This And the Jobs Bill Will Pass With a 100 Vote Margin

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I was looking at this wonderful document that the White House put out.

It takes the jobs bill and breaks it down by its impact on all 50 states. It's pretty impressive. I mean, all states benefit -- no matter, red or blue. In America today, are there really people in bright blue Wyoming who can say, "we don't need no 8000 jobs. We are doing fine."

Look at Alabama. 55,000 new jobs in two years.

How is this for a plan? During the Conference Committee deliberations, the President would call radio stations in the home states of every one of the House or Senate Members who is giving him a hard time. Imagine the excitement at WAMZ in Louisville when Barack Obama calls during drive time to politely ask why Mitch McConnell opposes creating 50,7000 new jobs in Kentucky.

Back in the day, FDR, JFK, and LBJ had impressive Congressional Republicans like Vandenberg and Dirksen to deal with. They were impressive men, much the Presidents' equal. But look who Obama is up against: a bunch of nobodies.

I'm no fan of Trent Lott but compared to Mitch McConnell, he was John Calhoun. In fact, the whole Republican leadership gang is about as impressive as Alan Keyes, the Republican Obama destroyed to get to the Senate. He needs to take them on. One at a time. State by state.

The White House list is also something we should all use in letters to the editors and calls to radio stations. Make the host argue that South Dakota or Missouri can live just fine without those new jobs. Make them defend unemployment.

But our best salesman is Obama. On Monday, the day before the election, Obama spent hour after hour calling local radio stations producing state-by-state excitement and driving up his numbers. He should do the same thing for the jobs package. The only differences are that this is even more important (on November 3rd, his pollsters told him that he had already won) and also this time he needs to name names. Ohioans need to know that John Boehner is costing Ohio 141,000 jobs and costing millions of working folks tax cuts of up to $1000.

What can they say? Anyway, this approach worked with the two senators from Maine. Two down. 48 to go.

Ben Nelson: Nebraska
In Nebraska, this plan will deliver immediate, tangible impacts, including:

Creating or saving 24,000 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, "The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan." January 9, 2009.]

Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 710,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President's Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers' paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]

Making 17,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide - and 17,000 families in Nebraska - new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]

Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 74,000 workers in Nebraska who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 15,000 laid-off workers.

And so on, and so on.

I was looking at this wonderful document that the White House put out. It takes the jobs bill and breaks it down by its impact on all 50 states. It's pretty impressive. I mean, all states benefit ...
I was looking at this wonderful document that the White House put out. It takes the jobs bill and breaks it down by its impact on all 50 states. It's pretty impressive. I mean, all states benefit ...
 
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- Hope Lives I'm a Fan of Hope Lives 13 fans permalink

YOU ARE WONDERFUL!!!! Let us stand together. We are two thirds of the American public and we can do anything! If we can just stop those who are in our own party from whining too much. Good job!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 07:35 PM on 02/09/2009
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Great post, except that Wyoming has NEVER been bright blue. It is a red state.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:35 PM on 02/09/2009
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Yeah, I believe the President has the stuff to help us, but... enough is enough. Republicans support the wealthy and "Themselves", most of which "are" all wealthy. They don't care about "We the People"! I feel betrayed. Mr. President, "To Hell with Republicans!" You have all the cards! "The People" elected you and that means that it wasn't those who support the old worn out beliefs. Why are You bowing to their every nod? Stimulus is Spending... keep this up front... Spending!!! I don't know, maybe we should've elected Rachel Maddow. She puts the facts out there for everyone to see a couple of times a week. Why are we replacing Spending with Tax Cuts that help those who don't even have to worry about a job? Tax Cuts help working people, but they're not who's in trouble! Tax cuts that show up on paychecks do absolutely nothing for those who don't have a paycheck, and we hear every day that, that is the only segment that shows "growth" daily. What's up? Take them to the mat! Let them know who is in charge; no uncertain terms. Cease with the compromise. They're not going to help You, in any way! Not now! Not ever! They're laughing right now, and I take that personally. God, who is going to save Our Country, if not you President Obama? For 45 years I had a job... now I don't!!!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:11 PM on 02/09/2009
- KHAAANNN I'm a Fan of KHAAANNN 38 fans permalink

Never gonna happen;
1) Radio is dominated by right-wing echo-machines that would not take his call, or blowhards like Rush that would yell over him anyway.
2) TV is only in it for the Info-tainment effect. President Obama would have to agree to allow them to ask 3 pointless "have you finally stopped beating your wife, sir?" questions to satisfy their corporate masters.
3) Print is dead. 90% of newspapers only print AP copy anyway.
4) The Internet is like herding cats. People only read the sites that already agree with them (HuffPro case in point.) so that is pointless.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:28 PM on 02/09/2009
- mitsie I'm a Fan of mitsie 65 fans permalink
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This is my pet peeve and please don't take this personally, but why can't the media, reporters, journalists etc call him President Obama and not Obama. I don't think many people called President Bush, Bush until his ratings went down. Right now President Obama's approval rating is 75% and the media's is less then Cheney. IMO the majority of us want to respect him and we call him Mr President.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:15 PM on 02/09/2009
- paixa3 I'm a Fan of paixa3 25 fans permalink

President Obama is probably smarter than most in congress, if not all. However, NOT having a ballsy management style to get things done is bringing him down.

4 absolute idiots, 2 dimowits and 2 rethuglicants brought the NATION down last week.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:13 PM on 02/09/2009
- gaja I'm a Fan of gaja 13 fans permalink
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You don't have to be an economist to understand why tax cuts DO NOT WORK --this is all the Repubs care about or talk about. How far do you think $50 extra dollars a month will go for average Americans?? I'm so angry that the idiots who got us into this disaster in the first place are splashed all over the headlines trying to say THEY know how to get us out. What they are calling P O R K is what average Americans call money for Education, New Energy Initiatives, Roads --things we all desperately NEED! Wake up --and stop allowing the MINORITY in Congress and their buddies like Rush Limbaugh dominate the airwaves with this utter nonsense!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:43 PM on 02/09/2009
- JimR I'm a Fan of JimR 38 fans permalink

So the message is, "a small portion of this bill actually will create jobs, so SHUT UP about the gross amounts of added spending that won't."

Is that it?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:58 AM on 02/09/2009
- gaja I'm a Fan of gaja 13 fans permalink
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The message is --the American people voted overwhelmingly that tax cuts ARE the gross amount of spending that won't work --otherwise we would have McCain as our President... The Repubs knew so much about what works that they drove us into this trillion-dollar plus DEBT and they need to recognize that fact.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:45 PM on 02/09/2009
- oafishcad I'm a Fan of oafishcad 45 fans permalink

Name the spending that won't create jobs. Building new schools? Subways in LA? Come on, name specifically the spending that doesn't create jobs. And the Republicans are even against the provisions that the spending must be spent in America on American workers and products. Republican tax cuts do create some jobs, mostly they just make the wealthy more wealthy, but they do create jobs, in Bangladesh, China, other parts of Asia and eastern Europe, not American jobs in America. They are the failed economic theory of deregulation and lawlessness. Cutting edge economic theory for the 1970s.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:00 PM on 02/09/2009

well i dont think they put the list together for show!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:51 AM on 02/09/2009
- karinova I'm a Fan of karinova 27 fans permalink
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Their list is okay for radio, but frankly, it's just the same generalized talking points, made personalized for each state. What we need are visuals-- charts and graphs!
Get a load of this graphical breakdown of the bill-- it DESTROYS the G0P objections :
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html

(Unfortunately, the print is really light. I had to take the image into Photoshop to be able to see the pie charts. BUT IT'S WORTH IT.)

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:44 AM on 02/09/2009
- ReHoover51 I'm a Fan of ReHoover51 11 fans permalink
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TAX THE CHURCH AND WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO RE-PAY CHINA, AND GET EVERYONE OUT OF DEBT ...
their tax exempt status is illegal, but the govt just forces the IRS to look the other way, as long as a fair share goes to "goodwill" ... the only goodwill they give is to themselves ...
TAX THEM UNTIL THEY GO THE WAY OF THE BUGGY WHIP ...
they own more land than 90% of the citizens put together
and they are so powerful with $$$ that they lobby to get all they want and it is ILLEGAL !!!
TAX THE CHURCH AND WE WILL HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO RE-PAY CHINA, AND GET EVERYONE OUT OF DEBT ...

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:30 AM on 02/09/2009
- JimR I'm a Fan of JimR 38 fans permalink

Put a tax on the gratuitous use of uppercase, and we'd have even MORE money!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:55 AM on 02/09/2009
- ReHoover51 I'm a Fan of ReHoover51 11 fans permalink
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do u want my credit card number, now?

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:37 PM on 02/09/2009
- JinChicago I'm a Fan of JinChicago 2 fans permalink

NAME Their NAMES

we know thats what they want, they (the gop) cheered mccain on when he promised to do so. lets see how much they cheer when its their name being named by obama!

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:25 AM on 02/09/2009

Lets see how this week plays out... i see a big push coming

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:47 AM on 02/09/2009
- ljc I'm a Fan of ljc 125 fans permalink

This morning Nissan announced 20,000 job cuts. I wonder how the people in Tennessee feel about that Sen. Corker? By the way how is that coal sludge clean-up going? I wonder how the people in Kentucky feel about not having electricity from the Ice Storm Sen McConnell? Did you even go home to find out? Senator Ensign, I wonder how the people and Gov. of your State, Nevada, with one of the highest foreclosure rates in the Vegas area feel about your statement that States budgets are "blouted" and they don't need any money? Senators Kyl and McCain I wonder.....Oh, never mind, these guys are deaf.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:41 AM on 02/09/2009
- TN60 I'm a Fan of TN60 140 fans permalink
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I thought the commentor on another blog had it right.....

Those Senator who don't support the stimulus....Their states get no money.

How many Senators would line up for it .... if people from Kentucky or Alabama or Tennessee, etc. threatened a noose and a hanging tree, if they didn't support it.

I'd love to see that.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 09:52 AM on 02/09/2009
- shp I'm a Fan of shp 11 fans permalink

As long as they don't have to have their kids/grandkids help pay it back, make sense to me..

And you forget, the states you mentioned are "low maintenance." As in already poor, so what's happening now is nothing new for them.

It's those "high maintenance" states that'll suffer the most without the stimulus You know, urban areas where the only thing they know how to grow is crime..........

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:14 AM on 02/09/2009
- oafishcad I'm a Fan of oafishcad 45 fans permalink

Those blue states seem to keep the economies of those red states from collapsing.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:03 PM on 02/09/2009
- timothyi I'm a Fan of timothyi 2 fans permalink

Ah, yes, that old tired talking point: People who live in cities aren't real Americans. Where, btw, the per-capita crime rate is LOWER than that in most rural areas.

Regarding the kids and grandkids paying back: the infrastructure built by federal programs during the Depression (including tens of thousands of miles of roads, hundreds of dams, thousands of buildings, dozens of airports and levees, and an entire power transmission system) was the basis for the next 3 generations of growth, including jobs for the children and grandchildren of those Depression-era voters.

That infrastructure should have received periodic maintenance in the 80's but Reagan decided to use it as a pawn in his rant against "big government". Now it's crumbling, and now we need to rebuild and expand it for the next round of expansion. You know, for our children and grandchildren.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:01 PM on 02/09/2009
- JimR I'm a Fan of JimR 38 fans permalink

Sounds childish. Congress as a group passes laws for the entire country.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:56 AM on 02/09/2009
- oafishcad I'm a Fan of oafishcad 45 fans permalink

Obama isn't George Bush.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:02 PM on 02/09/2009
- magen I'm a Fan of magen 15 fans permalink

I will never understand the working-class people from states like Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, Oklahoma, etc who vote for representatives who have no interest in helping working-class people of their states.

Maybe "No stimulus support=no money for your state" would show these people that there's consequences to voting for somebody who represents lobbyists interests over the American People's.

But it'll never happen.

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 04:10 PM on 02/09/2009
- shp I'm a Fan of shp 11 fans permalink

It's easy, they would rather be poor and try and make it on their own instead of being rich because of someone else's handout. It's called independence instead of dependence.

The whole country used to think like that, so let me guess? You're under 30.......

And corporations are now global. Which means if they can make their product somewhere else for a cheaper cost, they will. GM is pumping one billion dollars of bailout money into its operation in Brazil. Corporations will outlast countries. So if lobbyists can't get what they want here, they'll go somewhere else. And there goes your job..........

    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 05:26 PM on 02/09/2009
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