It’s all about jobs

It’s been a rough few weeks for President Obama.

Over Labor Day, the president attended a union rally in Detroit and was introduced by Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa Jr. During the introduction, Hoffa targeted Tea Party supporters, stating, “We’ve got to keep an eye on the battle that we face — a war on the workers. And you see it everywhere. It is the Tea Party. President Obama, this is your army, we are ready to march, but everybody here’s got to vote.

If we go back, and keep the eye on the prize, let’s take these sons-of-bitches out.”

Shockingly, the Obama administration refused to renounce Hoffa’s vile remarks. In response, White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer stated, “President Obama is not going to serve as the speech police for the Democratic Party.”

The rhetoric gets worse. The President’s disapproval rating stands at an all-time high of 53 percent, and after last week’s job-creation speech, it will undoubtedly go lower.

While Congress spent much of the summer vacationing, economic reports indicated that, fiscally speaking, August was one of the worst months of the year. No new jobs were added during the month, and the nation’s unemployment rate remained at a staggering 9.1 percent.

Eyeing their Sept. 6 return to Washington, lawmakers agreed that job creation was the No. 1 priority for the upcoming session of Congress. Obama, recognizing the urgency, stood before Congress on Sept. 8 and, taking a step back from his big-government rhetoric, stated, “Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers.”

He went on to outline his $447 billion job-creation package, which includes tax cuts and new government spending initiatives, which he hopes will revive our struggling economy. At the center of the bill is the American Jobs Act, designed to extend and expand cuts in employee payroll taxes. The initiative is worth $240 billion, and will effectively cut payroll taxes by half through 2012. It also provides $140 billion for various construction proposals like modernizing schools and repairing roads and bridges.

Obama urged members of Congress to pass the jobs plan right away, and claimed that many of the initiatives would be paid for “by raising the target for long-term spending cuts.”

GOP congressional members have argued that increasing federal spending in order to jump-start the economy is just another stimulus package. They said, “Now the White House is calling for an extension when there have been no signs that the temporary measure worked in the first place. While it’s always a net positive to let taxpayers keep more of what they earn, not all relief is created equal for the purpose of helping to get the economy moving again.”

The president’s proposal is half the cost of the last stimulus package — half of almost $1 trillion.

I think we can all now agree that the last time Obama tried to fix our economy with heavy government spending, it didn’t work. Make no mistake about it: His job-creation plan is purely political. In order for it to be enacted, it must be passed by Congress, but that will never happen. When the plan fails to pass, the president is only going to turn around and blame Republicans for killing job growth and use this as fuel in next November’s elections.

Welcome to campaign season, friends.

Finally, on a somber note: It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Over the past 10 years our country has changed. We have grown more vigilant and stronger as a nation. God bless the first responders and all of those who lost loved ones. I will never forget my dear friend Neil Levin, and I keep him and others in my prayers every day.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comment below or write to ADAmato@liherald.com.