The new Republican talking point after the State of the Union speech seems to be this:
The President should have been focused on Jobs and the Economy instead of wasting nine months on Health care.
I can't tell you how many times I've heard some version of this in the last 24 hours and I haven't even been watching the morning shows until today.
Of course the media talking heads (and "journalists") simply accept this as fact and don't bother to challenge it. Once again the Washington conventional wisdom is simply wrong.
President Obama took office during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The $700 billion bailout of the financial industry had already passed. He took steps (maybe not big enough steps, but that's another debate) to make it more transparent and accountable and a large amount of the taxpayers money has already been repaid. Whether you liked it or hated it, that bailout saved thousands (Hundreds of thousands, or millions? we may never know) of jobs. The repercussions of having the whole financial industry fail would have been unthinkable.
That was the first thing they did for jobs.
The stimulus package passed with only three Republican votes (One of whom is now a Democrat). It's almost laughable how they can now say the president did nothing to promote jobs and at the same time criticize him for spending too much money trying to create jobs. They opposed a stimulus package that was almost half tax cuts. So let's be real clear about this. When a Republican says he's for tax cuts so that people can keep more of what they earn, they aren't talking about you. They are talking about the top 5% who weren't included in that tax cut. They opposed it because it was for the average working person rather than for their big business buddies. Tax cuts for corporations making billions of dollars in profit are fine with them. Tax cuts for the guy working two jobs just to make ends meet and keep food on the table are not ok with the Republican party. There is no doubt that there are over a million people working now, who would not be working had the bill not passed.
The stimulus package WAS a jobs bill.
Then we have the bailout of the auto industry. Another very unpopular move with Republicans and conservatives in general. I had mixed feelings about this myself but, regardless of my feelings I recognize the reality. Had they not rescued GM and Chrysler, there would be possibly another million or so people joining me in the unemployment line.
The auto industry bailout was a jobs bill.
Now, let's talk about health care. Whether we like it or not, we live in a global economy. The United States is the only industrialized country that has not dealt with this issue. This puts us at a disadvantage. Part of the reason GM had to be rescued was the overwhelming costs of health care for it's workers. When a company wants to open a new plant in North America, what makes more sense? Open in the US and have to pay health insurance premiums that may skyrocket if you aren't in a big enough pool, or open in Canada whre you don't have that extra expense? The bill presently being held up in congress is far from perfect. It may or may not do everything it is intended, and we know it doesn't go nearly far enough. But it's a start. It takes some of the pressure off of small companies, strggling for survival, and would encourage innovation and new business just by not locking people into jobs they keep only because they need the health insurance. This bill would free them to start their own company if they chose, or change jobs to a start up company without worrying about losing coverage. It would free small employers to hire workers, knowing that they can afford them, even if they have a pre-existing condition.
THE HEALTH CARE BILL IS A JOBS BILL.
Sorry for the rant. I just got very frustrated with the idea that yet another false Republican meme fails to be challenged by our "liberal" media.
Let me repeat this for clarity:
President Obama spent the last year focused on jobs and the economy. You may agree or disagree with specific things that he did. You may wish he had done more, or wish he hadn't done as much. You may have better ideas. If you do, then by all means, please make them public.
It is simply not true that the President Obama did not focus on jobs.
He did.