The jobs report for April is out and it’s wholly disappointing; the country gained 77k jobs in April 2012.  The unemployment rate moved up from 8.1% to 8.2%.  This of course has prompted Mitt Romney and Republican mouthpieces to attack the President on his “job killing” policies.  As we watch this real life human tragedy that is the American political process – one has to ask themselves why more people aren’t asking how we got here.  It’s an easy answer; conservatives are blocking every possible bill that will lead to job creation.  And they’re doing it because they think you’re dumb enough to blame just one man.

If Congress doesn’t pass the bill to put on the President’s desk – no proposal becomes law.  And we blame the President for this?

This is what conservative obstruction looks like, and Americans DO NOT hold these politicians accountable:

June 24th, 2010: GOP Blocks Unemployment Insurance Bill Once Again, Dems Giving Up (Open Congress)
July 29th, 2010: Republicans block small business plan in Senate (Reuters)
September 28th, 2010: GOP Blocks Bill to Punish Companies that Move Jobs Abroad (CBS News)
November 18th, 2010:  House GOP blocks bill to extend jobless benefits (USA TODAY)
November 18th, 2010: Republicans vote unanimously against equal pay for women bill (Raw Story)
December 9th, 2010: Senate Republicans block 9/11 health bill (Reuters)
October 11th, 2011: Senate Republicans block Obama’s jobs package (CBS News)
October 20th, 2011: Senate blocks money for teachers, firefighters (WaPost)
November 3rd, 2011: Republicans block $60bn infrastructure bill (Financial Times)
December 11th, 2011: Senate blocks payroll tax-cut extension (MSNBC)
March 29th, 2012: Republicans Block Repeal of Oil-Company Tax Breaks Obama Sought (Business Week)
April 17th, 2012: Senate GOP blocks Obama’s ‘Buffett rule’ for minimum tax rate on millionaires (Fox News)
May 8th, 2012: GOP blocks Senate debate on Dem student loan bill (Associated Press)

MediaMatters puts a list together of the 27 Republican bills that ARE NOT about jobs (but they claim it to be).  Media Matters writes HERE:

But the bills are mostly highly partisan attempts to slash regulations that protect, among other things, public health, consumer rights, workplace safety and the environment. The GOP has also dishonestly included in its count a few viable measures with popular bipartisan support; one of these is being held up in the Senate by a Republican, and the others have been placed on the Senate calendar.

President Obama pulled together a joint session of Congress to propose the American Jobs Act on September 9th, 2011; you can read more about it HERE:

The chart below showcases what is in the American Jobs Act that President Obama proposed:

Source: White House

#1 – $175 Billion in tax cuts for middle class families by extending the payroll tax cut holiday.  $1,500 tax break for the average family. (PASSED)
#2 – $70 Billion in tax cuts for small businesses; cutting the payroll tax for the first $5 million in payroll costs (small business). (
#3 – All of these payroll tax cuts would be reimbursed from the general fund to the Social Security fund to ensure it’s not affected
#4 – $35 billion for states to employ teachers, firefighters and police (BLOCKED)
#5 – $30 billion to modernize schools and community colleges (BLOCKED)
#6 – $15 billion to rehabilitate and refurnish foreclosed homes (BLOCKED)
#7 – $5 billion to help low income youth and subsidizing work for low income workers (BLOCKED)
#8 – $50 billion in direct infrastructure (BLOCKED)
#9 – $10 billion for infrastructure bank (to loan to companies and states looking for loans for infrastructure projects) (BLOCKED)
#10 – $57 billion to extend unemployment benefits for people still out of work (BLOCKED)

The Senate voted on the bill on October 11th; it gained a MAJORITY of votes…but failed to have enough votes to stop a Republican filibuster.  And Republicans have killed more bills in the past 3 years with filibusters than at any time in our nation’s history.  EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTED AGAINST IT.  Republicans in the House wouldn’t even bring it to a vote.

See the roll call HERE.

What did Republicans propose?  They gave platitudes.

“The Senate’s rejection of the President’s jobs bill proves once and for all that there isn’t sufficient support on either side of the aisle for his all-or-nothing approach.  With millions of people out of work, I hope that the President will put the brakes on his campaign-style speeches and work with Congress on areas where there is bipartisan support to spur economic growth and get people back to work.”
~House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

“Now it’s time for both parties to work together and find common ground on removing government barriers to private-sector job growth.”
~Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

But what Republicans WILL pass are handouts to big banks and big business and wealthy donors.  Republicans passed a bill in April of 2012 that they said would benefit “small businesses”, but their definition of “small business” allowed for some very, very profitable businesses to gain tax breaks.  Obama said he would veto it and Republicans hide behind calling it the Small Business Tax Cut Act.  The Christian Science Monitor explains HERE:

For instance, the measure would benefit hedge funds, real estate partnerships, and law firms—many of which are unlikely to hire many more workers as a result of the new tax break.

Even Mitt Romney’s former investment firm Bain Capital might be eligible for this “small business” subsidy. Although it manages an estimated $66 billion, Bain employees only 400 professionals. With a lean enough support staff, it might be one of those lucky small businesses.

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