The president says it's a must-have. The White House says it means $1.3 billion and 17,900 jobs for infrastructure in Pennsylvania. And consensus says Republicans reject it.
The backdrop, of course, is all politics, with Democrats claiming that GOP opposition is rooted in Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's "top priority" of making Obama a one-term president.
But that sort of thinking suggests that those we elect are more interested in their jobs than in ours. You don't think that's possible, do you?
I do. As a veteran cynic, I'm convinced that both parties put partisanship before service, that anything positive coming from Congress is either coincidental to political ends or related to disaster relief.
And it is precisely this combination of politics and disaster that makes me think parts of this bill will pass. Here's why:
We have a disaster: 14 million out of work, 9.1 percent unemployment (11 percent in Philly) and the worst credit rating in modern history, with no real signs of recovery. We have politics: the prez and Congress face re-election next year.
All that remains is figuring what's best for everybody's re-election chances.
The forecasting group Macroeconomic Advisors says that Obama's bill means 1.3 million new jobs; megafirm Moody's chief economist Mark Zandi says 1.9 million jobs and 2 percent growth.
Adding that many jobs isn't a cure-all (it would cut the unemployment rate by only 1 percent), but it isn't nothing, either.
So I figure that Republicans won't pass Obama's plan: Doesn't do much but up the prez's cred and tax the wealthy, a/k/a "job creators." I also figure that Republicans won't allow Obama to paint them as "do-nothings."
For example.
