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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Obama Touts "American JOBS Act" On Boehner's Political Stomping Ground: OHIO! ("Pass This Bill!")









Obama in Ohio: Jobs bill needed 'now'

To the chants of "pass this bill," President Barack Obama gave a litany of why Congress should pass his American Jobs Act, which was introduced this week.

"My question to Congress is what on earth are we waiting for?" Obama told of friendly crowd of several thousand people at the Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School on the edge of Columbus' inner city.

"It's not about giving me a win," he said. "It's not about giving Democrats a win or Republicans a win. It's about giving the American people a win. The next election is 14 months away. The American people don't have the luxury of waiting that long. People are living paycheck to paycheck. They need it now."

Prior to his speech, Obama toured a classroom in the basement of a building on the Civil War-era Fort Hayes campus that would benefit from the education part of the president's job plan, according to the White House. According to Obama, the district also will benefit from money that is intended to prevent the layoff of teachers.

"You've got the foundation of what is needed to learn, graduate and compete in the 21st Century," the president said. "You at Fort Hayes have been making it happen. But I don't want any student studying in a broken down school.

"There is work to be done and workers waiting to do it. Tell Congress to pass this bill."

Obama said if the bill passes the jobs of up to 14,000 teachers, police and firefighters in Ohio will be saved. "South Korea is adding teachers at the same time we're laying off our teachers," he said. "It's unfair to our kids and it undermines our future."

The President said the bill will have small businesses create jobs by cutting their taxes if they increase the number of their employees and raise the salaries of those they already have.

"Instead of talking about helping America's job creators, let's actually do something that helps America's job creators. We need to get the people in Washington to stop worrying about their jobs and start working about your jobs."

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus criticized the Obama job plan in a conference call with reporters prior to Obama's appearance. He said the plan is filled with old ideas, "new taxes, new spending and debt."

After the 2009 stimulus plan, Priebus said, forecasters predicted wrongly that the plan would create jobs. "Barack Obama and his policies are an express train driving right off a cliff."

Priebus said Obama, who he called the "campaigner-in-chief," abdicated responsibility for paying for his plan by tossing it to the so-called Super Committee of 12 legislators charged with finding more than a trillion in budget cuts by Thanksgiving.

Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine, in the same conference call, said the president has a "very steep hill to climb to regain credibility on job creation."

Obama said his bill will not only help schools, but construction workers, veterans and young people by providing jobs. "It puts people back to work and puts more money in the pockets of working Americans."

And, he said, his proposal is paid for by closing loopholes for oil companies and making sure the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations "pay their fair share." He said the plan also will allow th payd down on the national debt because "we will cut what we can't afford and pay for what we really need. We need to create an economy that works."

Obama concluded his 16-minute speech saying, "The time for gridlock and games is over. The time for action is now. We're not a people who watch things happen. We're Americans. We make things happen. We write our own destiny. We have the people to write it again."



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Sources: AP, Cincinnati.com, Youtube, Google Maps

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