President Obama pushes jobs today in Asheville, N.C.
With the defeat of the full jobs in the Senate, and the Republican House, well, being the Republican House, President Obama is
taking his jobs plan to the people again, speaking today in North Carolina and pushing Congress to act on his proposal, piece by piece.
The first piece he wants Congress to act on is state and local aid for public employees.
White House officials said Sunday that Obama will not be sending a separate piece of legislation to Congress, referring questions about the process to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).[...]
With the full $447 billion jobs bill suffering defeat in the Senate, Obama and his aides are moving to a second phase, publicly pushing for passage of the bill piece by piece.
The first piece Obama wants is $35 billion in aid for states to prevent the laying off of or support increased hiring of teachers, police officers and fire fighters, Earnest said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hasn't yet said what the Senate will take up first, but this week is likely to try to catch up on some of those stalled appropriations bills and a nomination or two. The Republican House is not in the House this week, on yet another "district work period."
9:19 AM PT: Reid has now said that the Senate will take up this portion of the bill, the $35 billion for state aid, and force a vote this week.