WTF Has Obama Done? - Issue No. 013 - Employment: Jobs

I hope everyone had a good weekend, minus the unfortunate news about Whitney Houston.  May God bless her and her family during this time of grief.  Just another quick reminder of how important it is to tell the people in your life how much you love them.   Start today, because death knows neither time or day, we can be gone in a matter of minutes, hours or days.

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As promised, Issue No. 13 will be about Jobs, because according to Fox News and a particular party President Obama hasn't done a damn thing, which is simply not the case.  As a matter of fact, job losses exploded under former President George W. Bush, and has been recovering ever since. [Reference]

President Barack Obama has not only  managed to achieve 3 broad policies, 6 sources of funding and 6 targeted areas when it comes to job creation, he's also managed to produce 9 results.  Today I will cover 1 from each area.

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Jobs for Main Street Act (2010).

In a close vote of 217-212, the House passed a $154 billion jobs bill (HR 2847) on December 16, 2009.  The “Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010” includes $36.7 billion for highways and transit, and extends several other programs aimed at creating jobs and helping those hit hardest by the recession.  The Senate is not expected to consider the bill this year, and may craft its own version after reconvening in 2010.  H.R. 2847 also incorporates the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2009, which extends the core highway, highway safety, and transit programs through September 30, 2010, at $53.3 billion, the level assumed in the FY 2010 budget resolution.  In addition, the bill repeals the provision that prohibits Highway Trust Fund balances from earning interest and restores $20 billion to the Highway Trust Fund.

Highways:                   $27.5 billion
Transit:                       $8.4 billion
Amtrak:                       $800 million
[Reference-1, Reference-2]

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$33 billion-dollar jobs package (March 2010).

US President Barack Obama unveiled a 33-billion-dollar package of tax cuts Friday to encourage small businesses to hire new workers, as he takes aim at 10 percent unemployment.

Obama, who has made job creation the top priority of his administration, spoke as the White House got a rare economic boost when GDP data showed growth for the fourth quarter at a higher than expected 5.7 percent.

"It is time to put America back to work. We have had two very tough years," Obama said, as he toured a small factory in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
The proposal, which must be passed by Congress, would allow small businesses to claim a 5,000-dollar tax credit for every new employee they hire and to be reimbursed for Social Security retirement taxes on increased payrolls. [Reference-1, Reference-2, Reference-3]

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Job training programs in clean technologies for displaced workers.

Obama comes through on both parts of this promise.

Creating jobs that are also good for the environment was a big part of Barack Obama's campaign platform.

It was also a big part of the stimulus package he signed in early 2009. All told, the bill included $500 million to support job creation in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sector. The administration has been busy doling out this grant money to train displaced workers in the areas of home weatherization, hybrid and electric car maintenance and solar panel installation.

On Jan. 6, 2010, for instance, the Labor Department announced that $100 million will go to 25 projects around the country.

When Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in April 2009, he also created the Clean Energy Service Corps. The program will train young people to install solar panels, weatherize homes and conduct energy audits, among other things. [Reference-1]

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CBO found 3.7 Million jobs created by stimulus (May 2010).

A report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the Recovery Act has increased the number of workers by between 1.2 million and 2.8 million. The CBO also projects that 3.7 million jobs could be attributed to the stimulus by the end of September, 2010.

The $787 billion measure included several tax cuts, including one for $400 ($800 per working couple) that showed up in workers' paychecks. It also created Build America Bonds, expanded unemployment insurance and funded several domestic spending programs.

Several of these provisions are now being expanded in legislation extending expiring measures that the House could vote on later Wednesday.[Reference-1, Reference-2]

As promised, I will come back to this topic in another issue.  Please make sure to read the next issue, Issue No. 014 - Military and National Security as I continue with
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