Obama says he'll keep fighting for jobs bill
Published:Thursday | October 13, 2011 | 12:00 AM
A day after Senate Republicans killed his $447-billion jobs bill, President Barack Obama said he isn't taking no for an answer.
In his first combative appearance since a united Senate GOP caucus filibustered the jobs plan to death, Obama promised to keep the pressure on Congress for his job initiatives.
"Now, a lot of folks in Washington and the media will look at last night's vote and say, 'Well, that's it. Let's move on to the next fight.' But I've got news for them: Not this time. Not with so many Americans out of work," he said. "Not with so many folks in your communities hurting. We will not take no for an answer."
After pressing for Congress to award his jobs package an up or down vote, Obama and his Democratic allies promise to force additional votes on separate pieces of the measure, like infrastructure spending, jobless assistance and tax cuts for individuals and businesses.
"We will keep organising and we will keep pressuring and we will keep voting until this Congress finally meets its responsibilities and actually does something to put people back to work and improve the economy," said Obama, who spoke at an event organised by the White House recognising Latino contributions to American history.
The White House is using the jobs issue as a political sword as the 2012 campaign heats up. But it'll take a more bipartisan approach to actually deliver results sought by an angry public.
Obama's plan died at the hands of Senate Republicans on Tuesday, even though the president had been campaigning for it across the country for weeks. The $447-billion plan fell on a 50-49 tally in the 100-member Senate, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to crack a filibuster by Republicans. They opposed its stimulus-style spending and its tax surcharge for the very wealthy.
Now, the White House and leaders in Congress are moving on to alternative ways to address the nation's painful 9.1 per cent unemployment, including breaking the legislation into smaller, more digestible pieces.