OVERNIGHT MONEY: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

FRIDAY'S BIG STORY:

President Obama and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) will hit the road to Virginia's capital of Richmond on Friday — by plane or, possibly, by boat if the rains don't end soon in the Washington area. 

Each will talk up their jobs-creation plans in separate appearances with the president set to appear at the University of Richmond for a morning speech while Cantor heads over to meet with employees of Titan America, a heavy building materials company, in the afternoon.

Despite the dueling speeches in Cantor's home town, the majority leader has struck a conciliatory tone since Congress returned from the summer recess saying he'd like to find some job-creation initiatives that Democrats and Republicans can agree on to get the economy moving again.

“The American people don’t expect Republicans and Democrats to agree on every issue but given the times we’re in the people who elected us expect us to be able to set aside those differences and work toward finding some commonality,” Cantor said during a lunch sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor. 

Obama will likely recap his proposals in what appears to be the beginning of another round of traveling for the president to sell his ideas. He's going to Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday. 

In a matter of minutes, Obama will present his ideas during a joint session of Congress that are expected to include a one-year extension of a payroll tax cut for workers, a possible area of agreement, although Cantor says cutting employers’ payroll tax contributions might be a better way to grow the economy.

“It’s certainly part of the mix as we talk about how to go forward in terms of tax policy over the next four months,” Cantor said. 

While Cantor signaled that Republicans could be open to some of the president's jobs suggestions, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) was skeptical that he would hear much to his liking. 

“It seems like the president’s shopping on the gimmick aisle, and the job creators are on the substance aisle," Brady said, adding that he didn't think the business world was "going to hear what they want to hear.”

Infrastructure spending and passage of the three pending trade deals with Colombia, South Korea and Panama should provide another avenue where the parties agree. 

Obama is very likely to express support for creating a national infrastructure bank to help put construction workers back to work at lower direct cost to the government. 

Cantor isn't sold on the idea because it would require a large up-front investment by the federal government. He expressed concern that such a bank could become a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

The idea, led by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), has bipartisan support in the Senate and the backing of the Chamber of Commerce although there's questions as to when the bank could lead to more jobs. 

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington watch dog group, is warning that the devil is in the details on such a bank and safeguards have to be put in so that taxpayers are not forced into any bailouts, The Hill's Erik Wasson reported. 

The president also is expected to urge for an extension of expiring federal jobless benefits, a tax credit for businesses that hire the unemployed and a yearlong continuation of a tax break for businesses that allows them to deduct 100 percent of the value of new equipment.

BREAKING THURSDAY: As I post this, the president is nearing the start of his speech at the Capitol to present his $447 billion jobs-creation plan to Congress. 

"Those of us here tonight cannot solve all of our nation’s woes. Ultimately, our recovery will be driven not by Washington, but by our businesses and our workers," he's expected to say according to the White House. "But we can help. We can make a difference. There are steps we can take right now to improve people’s lives."

He'll call for his American Jobs Act to be passed right away should pass right away.  

"There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation," he'll say. "Everything in here is the kind of proposal that’s been supported by both Democrats and Republicans – including many who sit here tonight. And everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything."

• Pelosi joins the jobs party: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is asking her party's leaders to petition their respective GOP chairmen “to schedule immediate hearings and legislative action on legislation proposed by the president that lies within the jurisdiction of the committee," The Hill's Mike Lillis reported. 

• Bueller? Bueller?: Earlier today, The Hill's Russell Berman reported that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) asked all of his members to attend the joint session. He also invited 13 members of the business community to sit in the House gallery during the speech. Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Paul Broun (R-Ga.) have announced they will skip the president’s speech, and Boehner conceded there was only so much he could do to encourage attendance.

“He is the president of the United States, and I believe that all members ought to be here,” Boehner said. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to. Remember, I’m just the Speaker. I’ve got 434 colleagues who have their own opinions, and they’re entitled to them. But as an institution, the president is coming at our invitation. We ought to be respectful, and we ought to welcome him.”

• Stepping up: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), struggling to maintain visibility as a Republican presidential candidate, will rebut the president's  jobs speech at 8:30 p.m., The Hill's  Josh Lederman reported. The Republicans have been commenting all day on the plan but had opted against a formal response to the speech. 

The move didn't win Bachmann any popularity contests with her colleagues as some accused her of “show boating.” 

• Patently possible: The Senate joined the House Thursday night in passing a bill that would give the nation’s patent system its first overhaul in more than 50 years by an 89-9 vote.

IN OTHER NEWS ... 

• SUPER INTERRUPTUS: The so-called congressional supercommittee met for the first time on Thursday and were briefly interrupted by protesters reportedly chanting their desire for job creation. "What do we want? Jobs. When do we need them? Now.”   

But that didn't stop panel members from continuing their first meeting where serious differences emerged over how ambitious the panel should be in cutting deficits, according to a story by Wasson. The divide cut across party lines, with some Republicans and some Democrats arguing the panel should seize the moment by tackling entitlement and tax reforms in the pursuit of much larger cuts than the $1.5 trillion the supercommittee is charged with finding.

The 12-member group has until Nov. 23 to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade, with an ultimate goal of at least $1.5 trillion in cuts. If it fails to meet the deadline for the $1.2 trillion, that amount of cuts to defense and domestic discretionary spending would be enacted automatically starting in January 2013. 

• In defense of, well, Defense: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he told congressional leaders he would not serve on the debt supercommittee if it was going to consider further Pentagon budget cuts.

"l'm off the committee," if it considers Defense cuts beyond the $350 billion over a decade mandated in the August debt deal, The Hill's John T. Bennett reports. 

• Decisions, decisions: While the supercommittee can choose private meetings,  several Senate Republicans are calling for the debt-reduction group to be made public, according to The Hill's Alex Bolton's report. 

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR THURSDAY NIGHT … 

• Before the football game starts: The Senate is planning a late Thursday night procedural vote on a resolution that disapproves of a pending $500 billion increase in the debt ceiling, our own Pete Kasperowicz and Josiah Ryan reported. 

WHAT ELSE TO WATCH FOR ON FRIDAY

• Heading abroad: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be hopping across the pond tomorrow, as he attends a meeting of G-7 finance ministers in Marseilles, France. The meeting comes at a key time, as a growing debt crisis continues to plague the Euro-zone. While such struggles might seem foreign, the continued struggles of nations like Greece has roiled financial markets for over a month and done damage to confidence in the global economy.

The — short — hearing roundup

• Retirement savings: Capitol Hill will not be particularly hearing-heavy on the day after the president's speech. But the Senate's special committee on aging and the Brookings Institution are scheduled to co-host a briefing on retirement savings for seniors, with William Gale, a Brookings senior fellow and former Council of Economic Advisers staffer, among those set to appear.

• Time to reschedule: The House Appropriations Committee has postponed its scheduled markup of the labor and health and human services appropriations bill. The committee is in the process of revising its bill to reflect the summer debt ceiling deal and could not complete its work in time for the morning meeting. Under the original House-passed budget, appropriators were working toward a $139 billion spending level — a cut of nearly $18 billion from current levels — but that is expected to be revised significantly upward to reflect the debt-ceiling deal. The bill could be released Friday for markup early next week.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday announced a $157.1 billion spending level for the bill, only $300 million less than in 2011.

Appropriators are also beginning to prepare a continuing resolution for committee action as soon as next week. The temporary spending bill will likely fund the government once the fiscal year ends after Sept. 30 at least until Thanksgiving.

Economic indicators

• Wholesale trade: The Department of Commerce will release its wholesale trade report that includes sales and inventory statistics from the second stage of the manufacturing process. The sales figures don't provide any insight into personal consumption and have little effect on the market.

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:

• Trade deficit drops as exports hit record level.

• Initial jobless claims disappoint again. 

• Al Qaeda feeling financial pinch, Treasury says.

 • House delays health spending bill.

• McCaskill concerned refundable tax credits. 

• Elizabeth Warren pressures Senate GOP on Consumer Bureau blockade.

• Highway bill extension clears Senate committee.

• Republicans use Geithner's own words to push for relief from Dodd-Frank.

• Manufacturers press for passage of patent bill.

• CBO: Deficit stands at $1.23 trillion through August.

• Senate Finance witnesses differ on taxing foreign profits.

• Senate Banking advances financial regulator nominees.

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