During his press conference Thursday morning, President Obama suggested that if the Republicans don't care for his jobs bill, they should offer up some jobs-centric legislation of their own instead of just criticizing his plan. Obama has been rallying up and down the country promoting his $447 billion bill, ostensibly to help the American people understand exactly why its so awesome and convince them to call their Congresspeople. But let's face it - we all know what's really going on here, and Speaker Boehner unabashedly delivered the truth-bomb:
"Mr. President, why have you given up on the country and decided to campaign full time instead of doing what the American people sent us all here to do?" Boehner said. "And that's to find common ground to deal with the big challenges that face our economy and our country."...
"I've had my share of disappointments this year ... but nothing has disappointed me more than what's happened over the last five weeks -- to watch the president of the United States give up on governing, give up on leading, and spend full time campaigning," Boehner said at symposium.
House Republicans have passed roughly a dozen bills as part of their job-creation agenda that would loosen pollution regulations and make it easier to drill for oil and gas domestically. The Democratic-controlled Senate has not taken up any of them for a vote.
Well said, Mr. Speaker. President Obama has been demagoguing the hell out of his jobs plan, busily building the image of the GOP as obstructionist and spiteful. Not only does this give him a big bad wolf to campaign against in 2012, but almost three years on, the "it's the previous administration's fault" narrative is getting increasingly pathetic (Solyndra "pre-dates me"? Did we really just go there?).
The problem with the obstructionist-line, however, is that it takes two to tango. No, the Republicans haven't whipped up a gigantic, all-of-your-wildest-dreams-will-come-true, omnibus jobs bill. But they have been attempting to reverse job-killing regulations, demonstrating a fundamental understanding that the government does not create jobs. And the Democrat-controlled Senate doesn't seem to like that notion at all.
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