(White House)
Positive responses to President Obama's jobs plan continue coming in from unions and other pro-worker organizations.
UAW President Bob King:
"We strongly support President Obama's call for immediate action by Congress to pass the American Jobs Act now. We need jobs now, and this bill will lead to immediate jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans, first responders, young people and the long-term unemployed.
[...]
"We are sending a strong message to Congress in support of Obama's American Jobs Act. We demand that they support Obama's plan to put millions of people to work repairing America's infrastructure not only to help unemployed working families and their employers create the jobs they need, but also to reduce our nation's deficit.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers President Edwin Hill:
Clearly, waiting for the private sector alone to put Americans back to work is not the answer. Corporations are reluctant to invest profits when demand is down as unemployment has devastated household income and reduced tax bases across the nation. The President’s plan will stimulate the economy in the best way possible, providing jobs while at the same time addressing the urgent need to restore our infrastructure.
This plan is in the best tradition of our nation and deserves bipartisan support now. America’s unemployed cannot wait.
Working America, in a press release:
We recently asked a sampling of our 3 million members what they wanted President Obama to say in his speech tonight. All said they wanted to see job creation. Fifty-six percent said they wanted to see job creation through direct investment in infrastructure or an end to outsourcing – including raising taxes on corporations that send jobs overseas. Thirty-one percent said they wanted good jobs, job training and an affordable education.
Now that the President has spoken, it is time for Congress to stop sitting on the sidelines. In 2010, this Congress was sent to Washington on a promise to focus on jobs, but they’ve failed utterly to live up to that pledge.