Today Americans will witness an extraordinarily rare event.
The president will sign a bill that originated in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the Jumpstart Our Business Startup Act.
Sadly, it is almost unheard of for Obama, who ran in 2008 on post-partisanship, to actually engage in such bipartisanship for the good of the economy. House Republicans have passed 27 other jobs bills (with some Democratic support) that Senate Democrats and the president have ignored.
When it comes to creating jobs and helping the economy, Democrats talk a good game. But that’s about it. The JOBS Act is a start, but we could have accomplished much more by now.
We could have…
• Helped entrepreneurs
• Reduced regulatory burdens
• Increased energy production
• Increased access to capital for job creators
• Provided middle class tax relief
That’s just a sampling. But all 27 bills would have helped create jobs and grow the economy. Thanks to Democrats’ intransigence, though, they are just 27 missed opportunities.
President Obama has made it clear that he wants to run against a do-nothing Congress. But there’s a problem with that strategy. The Republican House has been doing plenty. It’s the Democrat-controlled Senate that does nothing. They haven’t even passed a budget in three years.
Obama’s hypocrisy is astonishing. He attacks Republicans for—of all things—passing a budget. Meanwhile, his own 2013 budget went down in the House 0-414. The Senate voted down his 2012 budget 0-97.
President Obama went so far as to call Republicans’ Path to Prosperity budget “a Trojan Horse.” If he really wants to talk about Trojan Horses, let’s talk about his 2008 campaign. Americans who supported Obama in ’08 surely did not expect “hope and change” to become “fear and division.”
They would have expected the candidate who campaigned as a transformative, post-partisan uniter to work with House Republicans on bipartisan bills, instead of signing just one. They expected policies that were good for the economy and struggling families.
Yet Obama’s policies have not been in the interest of most Americans. In their efforts to grow government, raise taxes, over-regulate businesses, and coddle the special interests, Democrats have done plenty—all destructive, to be sure.
But on growing the economy, creating jobs, and reducing the deficit, they have been nothing but Do-Nothing Democrats. That’s something America can do without. Just wait till November.