Liberals say bill falls short on job-creation measures, projects

Liberals on Wednesday said President Barack Obama’s job-creation plan falls short, lacking enough public projects and direct job-creation measures to be effective.

A group of senior House Democrats say they want to expand on the ideas that Obama put forth, hoping to make up for the $787 billion stimulus they say was too small. They voiced worry Wednesday that without changes, the new jobs bill will follow the path of the stimulus, which didn’t prevent the unemployment rate from hitting double digits this fall.

While the president called for a boost in infrastructure spending, he focused more on measures to spur small-business hiring, including proposals for a capital gains tax cut for small businesses, a hiring credit for each new worker brought on and increased small-business loans, the liberal lawmakers noted.

“I want to see something strong, robust,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Lee noted that she and other liberals pushed for a $1 trillion stimulus earlier this year, arguing that anything short of that amount wouldn’t be sufficient to get the country working.

“And we got $700-something billion,” she added. “So I think it’s not enough. We have to make the investments now. I don’t think we should tinker around the edges. I think we should make a concerted, targeted and committed effort, because people are suffering.”

Lee and the CBC, which are crafting their own jobs proposals, have argued that much more needs to be done for black communities. The November unemployment rate for African-Americans was 15.6 percent, far higher than the national rate of 10 percent, according to Labor Department data.

With House leadership yet to spell out details of its job-creation bill — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has said little about the coming package other than to note its cost will be between $75 billion and $150 billion — House liberals are pushing plans for government to hire workers directly.

Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), a member of the jobs task force assembled by House Democratic leaders, has a bill that would pump $180 billion into a program of New Deal-style public and nonprofit projects.

“The president’s speech was great the other night, but he didn’t talk about direct money to get people in,” Hare said.

The Congressional Progressive Caucus met Wednesday to consider more direct jobs measures.

“We feel like government should have a significant role in creating these jobs,” said Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), the Progressive Caucus’s co-chairman.

The jobs bill push comes as the unemployment rate stands at 10 percent and as more lawmakers question the efficacy of the $787 billion stimulus.

Though the stimulus has saved or created about 1 million jobs, according to estimates by the White House, the Congressional Budget Office and independent economists, more liberals are starting to echo GOP criticism that the measure wasn’t effective in putting people to work.

“I think there’s a real sense at many levels of the Democratic Party that we need to be more about jobs and job creation,” said Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). “You know, $700 billion in the first stimulus didn’t quite do what needed to be done.”

The president and Democratic leaders in Congress targeted their jobs-bill pitch at members of both parties Wednesday. After meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders at the White House, Obama expressed hope that Republicans would support him, particularly on items like a one-year elimination of the capital gains tax for small businesses that the GOP has backed in the past.

“It’s appropriate that I met with leaders of both parties,” Obama said. “Spurring hiring and economic growth are not Democratic or Republican issues.

They are American issues that affect every single one of our constituents.”

The president noted that all but three GOP lawmakers voted against his $787 billion stimulus package in February, but he said he hopes he will get some GOP support this time around.

“It’s no secret that there’s been less than full bipartisan support for the recovery act and some of the steps that have broken the freefall of our economy,” Obama said. “But my hope is that as we move forward we can do so together, recognizing that we have a shared responsibility to meet our economic challenges on behalf of all Americans: those who elected us to make sure that we’re doing the people’s business.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) echoed the call for bipartisan support. She said after the meeting that it was “possible for us to find some common, bipartisan ground,” specifically on small-business and infrastructure measures.

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