White House aide: Time for Congress to act on jobs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress must abandon its politically driven refusal to work with President Barack Obama and take action on his job proposals because Americans are demanding help, a top White House aide said Thursday.

Bill Daley, the White House chief of staff, used a trio of morning TV appearances to prod Republicans into action hours before Obama delivers an address on jobs to a rare joint session of Congress. Obama's speech comes amid persistent unemployment exceeding 9 percent, a report that employers stopped creating new jobs last month, and pressure from next year's presidential and congressional elections.

Daley declined to provide details of the president's jobs proposal, saying only that it would help teachers, construction workers, first responders and small businesses, and that many of the ideas have been supported by Republicans in the past.

"The only reason some of these people may not support it now is because of the politics that's going on, which is again unfortunate for the American people," Daley said.

He said the jobs programs would be paid for without borrowed money, and hinted that some of the funds would come from higher taxes on wealthier Americans. They "ought to pay a little more," Daley said.

The package, Daley said, is "a way to help people. That's what the president is committed to do, if the Congress will act."

Daley acknowledged that the economy has performed worse than expected when Obama entered the White House in 2009.

"That's not an excuse for anyone. That's not an excuse for Congress. It's time for action," Daley said. He spoke on CBS' "Early Show," NBC's "Today" and ABC's "Good Morning America."

Obama's American Job Act will be formally sent to Congress next week, a White House official said.

In his speech Thursday, Obama is likely to offer at least a $300 billion package of ideas that would affect people in their daily lives — tax relief, unemployment insurance, spending to support construction jobs, aid to states to keep people in their jobs. Businesses would get their own tax breaks. And he will promise a long-term plan to pay for it all.

Yet all of it ultimately will depend on a Republican-controlled House that has a different economic approach and no political incentive to help a Democrat seeking a second term.

So, however cooperative his tone, Obama's goal is also to put Republicans on the spot to act — in their face, and in their chamber. Obama is expected to speak for up to 45 minutes, beginning at 7 p.m. EDT.

Before Obama even said a word, political and economic reality raised two questions: Will any of his ideas get approved, and will they actually work?

When asked about some of the ideas Obama is expected to discuss, majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents were all skeptical that the proposals would do a lot to create jobs, a Pew Research Center poll out Wednesday found. A series of new polls by major news organizations finds that the mood is downright dismal about the direction of the country, with Obama's standing and approval on the economy at or near the lowest levels of his presidency.

Yet voters are holding all leaders accountable, supporting the White House's point that Congress is under pressure to act, too. An Associated Press-GfK poll found that more people assign chief blame for the economy to former President George W. Bush and congressional Republicans and Democrats than to Obama.

Democrats familiar with the president's plans say the White House sees the speech as a pivot point after spending the spring and summer focused on negotiations over deficit spending. They say the fall offers the president a window to press congressional Republicans to act on his economic plan — and if they don't, Obama will spend 2012 running against them as obstructionists. Whether that's enough to win over voters is another matter.

Obama's chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said the president won't start with ideas that have been "preapproved" by Republicans in Congress.

"Ultimately, the test for any of these ideas: Are they right? Can they help the economy? Can they help get people back to work?" Axelrod told The Associated Press.

The president's plan to pay for his ideas is a political necessity in a time of fiscal austerity. Deficit-boosting stimulus spending is out. But here, too, he is banking on a lot of help.

Obama plans to cover the cost by asking a new congressional supercommittee debt panel to go beyond its target of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by the end of November, so the extra savings can pay for short-term economic help. That debt panel meets for the first time Thursday.

In one upbeat sign for those looking for a Washington compromise, House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor have told Obama they see potential areas of agreement on jobs — for example, infrastructure, which Obama has pushed repeatedly. Cantor also signaled to reporters Wednesday that he might support a payroll tax cut.

"It is not games and politics for people out across this country. It's real," Cantor said about the state of the economic debate. "The fact that we have had such sustained joblessness in this country, the fact that people are doing anything they can in many instances just to stay afloat and to pay the bills, it's real."

At the heart of Obama's plan will be extending, by one more year, a payroll tax cut for workers that went into effect this year. The president wants the payroll tax, which raises money for Social Security, to stay at 4.2 percent rather than kick back up to 6.2 percent. That tax applies to earnings up to $106,800.

Obama is expected to seek continued unemployment aid for millions of people receiving extended benefits. That program, too, is set to expire at year's end.

Among the other potential proposals by Obama:

—Tax credits for employers who hire.

— A major school construction initiative.

— Aid to local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers and other workers.

—Other tax help for businesses, such as continuing to allow them to deduct the full value of new equipment.

Since Obama took office in January 2009, nearly 2 million Americans have lost jobs. Almost 14 million people are out of work.

The unemployment rate, which stood at 5 percent at the start of the deep recession and 7.8 percent when Obama began in office, is at 9.1 percent. Most troubling is the trend line. After a period of steady if modest job creation, employers have stopped hiring.

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Associated Press writers Ken Thomas, Christopher S. Rugaber, Jim Kuhnhenn and Larry Margasak contributed to this report.

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White House decries jobs 'sideshow'

The White House Thursday denied President Barack Obama's latest row with Republicans proved he will struggle to pass a major new jobs program, describing the clash as an irrelevant sideshow.

Obama's decision to back down Wednesday over an issue as mundane as the timing of a major economic address before a joint session of Congress next week cast new scrutiny on his diminished political heft in the US capital.

New polls meanwhile showing Americans sour on his leadership and management of the economy further raised the stakes for Obama's new plan -- possibly his last chance to revive the economy before his 2012 reelection bid fires up.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday's political shoving match over the date of the speech with Republican House Speaker John Boehner left most Americans cold, as they look to Washington to lift their economic gloom.

"It's irrelevant, this is small stuff. The sideshows don't matter. The economy matters. The American people matter. Jobs matter," Carney said.

Though the White House took the high ground, the episode revived questions aired during a July debt standoff over whether Obama's penchant for compromise leads to him getting rolled over by Republicans.

Obama offered a bold gambit on Wednesday by asking Boehner to host a rare joint session of Congress to debut his new economic plan on September 7 -- the same night as a Republican presidential candidates debate in California.

The White House insisted the timing was "coincidental" though few Washington observers buy that, reasoning that the president wanted to steal the spotlight from candidates vying to turf him out of office.

But Boehner refused to budge, and in what Capitol Hill sources said was an unprecedented move, said Obama should speak the next night instead.

The White House insisted Boehner's camp had raised no prior objections to the date, but the speaker's aides said he had never given the go-ahead as the recriminations flew between the two sides.

Knowing a president lacks the authority to simply show up at Congress and give a speech, Obama eventually relented and agreed to Boehner's date of September 8.

Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck filled in the last blank late Thursday, saying that the speaker had "respectfully invited" the president "at his request" to address lawmakers at 7:00 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Thursday.

The president is promising measures that in a normal political climate would attract bipartisan support, which will likely include a proposal to extend a payroll tax cut and invest in job creation infrastructure projects.

He has promised to run hard against Congress when he seeks a second term next year if they block his plans.

But some observers believe Obama lacks the political capital and ability to wield his presidential power effectively against a House elected last year on a wave of anger whipped up by the conservative Tea Party movement.

There was also new evidence Thursday of the perilous nature of Obama's position, heading into his reelection year, a factor which may be leading Republicans to sense weakness.

A Quinnipiac University poll found that Obama's job approval rating had dipped to an all time low with voters disapproving of him by 52 to 42 percent.

"Ominous for him is that the share of voters who think he has strong leadership qualities has dropped from 64/33 percent in January to 50/48 percent now," said Peter Brown, assistant director of polling at the university.

A CNN/ORC International poll meanwhile found that with unemployment stuck at 9.1 percent, Obama's approval rating on the economy had dipped to 34 percent.

The president hopes to set about reversing those numbers with the speech on measures designed to jolt the recovery back to life and to create jobs.

But as criticism of his leadership grows, Vice President Joe Biden is coming to his defense.

Obama's decisions, including ordering the special forces raid in May that killed Osama bin Laden, were proof of a "backbone like a ramrod," Biden said.

"Republicans spent a lot of time trying to tag him as a follower, not a leader. Well, he's put that to bed."

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White House requests $5.2B in new disaster funds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House told Congress on Thursday there's a need for more than $5 billion in additional disaster relief money, not even counting the billions that probably will be called for to help East Coast states hit by Hurricane Irene.

The administration also says that under the terms of last month's budget deal, Congress can provide more than $11 billion in disaster aid next year without finding offsetting budget cuts as demanded by some Republicans. The budget pact contains a little-noticed provision providing the flexibility in disaster spending.

Many lawmakers were unaware of the disaster aid provision when voting for the budget pact last month. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has said additional disaster funding should be paid for by cutting spending elsewhere in the budget

Before Thursday, the Obama had requested just $1.8 billion for the government's main disaster relief accounting, generating complaints from lawmakers that billions more is needed to help states rebuild from past disasters like hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Gustav and the massive Tennessee floods of last spring, as well as for Joplin, Mo., and the Alabama towns devastated by tornadoes last spring.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has less than $800 million in its disaster relief fund to pay for the immediate help needed to help victims of the flooding and wind damage from Irene through the end of September. The aid account is so low that new rebuilding projects have been put on hold to help victims of Irene and future disasters.

That means that longer-term rebuilding projects like schools and sewer systems have been frozen out to make sure there's money to provide disaster victims with immediate help with food, water and shelter.

The White House says it's monitoring the situation to determine if money will be needed before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, but it's not requesting any at this time.

"There is no question, however, that additional funds will be required to assist the thousands of Americans affected by Hurricane Irene, on top of the $5.2 billion identified under current law to properly fund known disaster needs for fiscal year 2012," White House budget director Jacob Lew said in a letter sent to top lawmakers Thursday evening.

There seems to be little hope, however, that the FEMA funding bill — and the money to replenish disaster accounts — will be enacted by the Oct. 1 deadline. A battle over whether to require offsetting spending cuts, despite the $11.5 billion in new funding permitted under the budget pact, may take a while to resolve.

The shortfalls in FEMA's disaster aid account have been obvious to lawmakers on Capitol Hill for months — and privately acknowledged to them by FEMA — but the White House has opted against asking for more money, riling many lawmakers. Much of their frustration has been directed at the White House budget office, which alone has the authority to make official budget requests to Congress.

Over the past decade, Congress has appropriated $131 billion in disaster relief, with $37 billion provided for 2005 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The cost of disasters has been growing in recent years.

The additional disaster relief sought by the White House could bring 2012 spending on agency budget accounts above current year spending. The fact that last month's budget deal imposed caps on spending, which would cut $7 billion from current levels, was a main factor in selling the measure to conservatives.

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US senator asks Pakistan to curb Afghan explosives

A US senator visiting Islamabad said Friday he is pressing Pakistan to reduce the flow of an explosives material used in roadside bombs that wound and kill hundreds of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Senator Robert Casey said in a conference call that his talks with civilian and military leaders as well as senators focused on having Pakistan implement its strategy to cut shipments of ammonium nitrate or fertilizer.

"I want to see their strategy implemented, and then we'll be able to better assess it. But they have not implemented a strategy yet, and... that's one of the reasons I'm over here," Casey told reporters.

But he added: "I think we made real progress impressing upon the Pakistani leadership our sense of urgency to get results on this strategy to reduce the flow of ammonium nitrate into Afghanistan."

He said the strategy involves better law enforcement, greater Pakistani public awareness of the threat posed by the chemicals, tracking the material better by dyeing it a certain color and better border interdiction.

"We have been told they will begin the implementation of this plan this fall, but not a date per se," Casey said after meeting Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

Casey, chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs, He said last year 368 US servicemen and women were injured or killed by the bombs, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

Some 125 Americans have been killed this year by IEDs, he added.

"It is very, very rare that someone who is killed in action is not killed by an IED," he said.

"And that's why we've got to take steps to focus intensively on a strategy against this kind of explosive device and the main ingredient in that explosive device," Casey added.

Casey said his Pakistani interlocutors still disagreed strongly with the secret May 2 US raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan but were determined not to let it destroy their counter-terror cooperation.

"What I think came through today and yesterday was their willingness ... just to look beyond this and to move... forward," Casey said, adding the raid that violated Pakistani sovereignty will always be "a point of contention."

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White House: No major earthquake damage reported

WEST TISBURY, Mass. (AP) — An hour after an East Coast earthquake shook the ground around him, President Barack Obama conferred with top aides and was told there had been no early reports of major infrastructure damage, including at airports and nuclear facilities.

There also were no immediate requests for federal assistance, the White House said.
The president, vacationing on Martha's Vineyard was teeing off at a golf course when the temblor hit.

A statement from the White House did not say whether Obama felt the ground sway. But reporters traveling with him said they had felt it.

The quake shook much of Washington, D.C., where sections of the White House, Pentagon and Capitol were temporarily evacuated.

CNN broadcast video of Obama speaking on a cell phone on the golf course. The White House did not say whether that was when Obama was talking with top administration officials. The conference call Obama held with aides, including his homeland security secretary, national security adviser and the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, took place just before 3 p.m. EDT. Obama also asked for regular updates on the earthquake.

Obama's golf game came after he took advantage of idyllic summer weather to join his family on biking and beach outings earlier Tuesday.

Aides said Obama was briefed on national security and the economy before setting out for the bike trail at Manuel F. Correllus State Forest with his wife, Michelle, and daughters Malia and Sasha. The first family went biking at the 5,100-acre preserve during their previous two summer getaways on this posh island off the Massachusetts coast. After biking, they headed to a private stretch of beach on the island's south shore for the second time in three days.

Obama also discussed Libya with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Both agreed to support a peaceful transition to democracy and called for Moammar Gadhafi to relinquish power, the White House said. While out biking, Obama ignored a reporter's shouted question about Gadhafi's whereabouts.

The president arrived last Thursday for a 10-day break from Washington. He is scheduled to return to the White House on Saturday.

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Quake rocks Washington area, felt on East Coast

MINERAL, Va. (AP) — The most powerful earthquake to strike the East Coast in 67 years shook buildings and rattled nerves from South Carolina to Maine on Tuesday. Frightened office workers spilled into the streets in New York, and parts of the White House, Capitol and Pentagon were evacuated.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, but fire officials in Washington said there were at least some injuries.

Click photo to view more images. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

The National Cathedral said its central tower and three of its four corner spires were damaged, but the White House said advisers had told President Barack Obama there were no reports of major damage to the nation's infrastructure, including airports and nuclear facilities.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered magnitude 5.8 and was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va.

Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicenter, were automatically taken off line by safety systems, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and in both Washington and New York it immediately triggered fears of something more sinister than a natural disaster.

At the Pentagon, a low rumbling built until the building itself was shaking, and people ran into the corridors of the complex. The shaking continued there, to shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

The Park Service closed all monuments and memorials on the National Mall, and ceiling tiles fell at Reagan National Airport outside Washington. All flights there were put on hold.

In lower Manhattan, the 26-story federal courthouse, blocks from ground zero of the Sept. 11 attacks, began swaying, and hundreds of people streamed out of the building.

The New York police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, was in a meeting with top deputies planning security for the upcoming anniversary when the shaking started. Workers in the Empire State Building spilled into the streets, some having descended dozens of flights of stairs.

"I thought we'd been hit by an airplane," said one worker, Marty Wiesner.

Another, Adrian Ollivierre, an accountant, was in his office on the 60th floor when the quake struck: "I thought I was having maybe a heart attack, and I saw everybody running. I think what it is, is the paranoia that happens from 9/11, and that's why I'm still out here — because, I'm sorry, I'm not playing with my life."

New York District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance was starting a news conference about the dismissal of the sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, when the shaking began. Reporters and aides began rushing out the door until it became clear it was subsiding.

On Wall Street, the floor of the New York Stock Exchange did not shake, officials said, but the Dow Jones industrial average sank 60 points soon after the quake struck. The Dow began rising again a half-hour later and finished the day up 322 points.

In Washington, the National Cathedral said cracks had appeared in the flying buttresses around the apse at one end. "Everyone here is safe," the cathedral said on its official Twitter feed. "Please pray for the Cathedral as there has been some damage."

Shaking was felt as far south as Charleston, S.C., and as far north as Maine. It was also felt on Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, where Obama is taking summer vacation and was starting a round of golf when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT.

Obama led a conference call Tuesday afternoon on the earthquake with top administration officials, including his homeland security secretary, national security adviser and administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Around Mineral, Va., a small town close to the epicenter, people milled around in their lawns, on sidewalks and parking lots, still rattled and leery of re-entering buildings. There was least one aftershock.

All over town, masonry was crumpled, and there were stores with shelved contents strewn on the floor. Several display windows at businesses in the tiny heart of downtown were broken and lay in jagged shards.

Carmen Bonano, who has a 1-year-old granddaughter, sat on the porch of her family's white-frame house, its twin brick chimneys destroyed. Her voice still quavered with fear.

"The fridge came down off the wall and things started falling. I just pushed the refrigerator out of the way, grabbed the baby and ran," she said.

By the standards of the West Coast, where earthquakes are much more common, the Virginia quake was mild. Since 1900, there have been 40 quakes of magnitude 5.8 or greater in California alone. There have been 43 of magnitude 6 of greater.

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2:49 AM | 0 comments