Congress’ No Can Do List

Yesterday, President Obama presented a to-do list for Congress now that they’ve returned from recess. The list includes tax breaks for keeping jobs in the US instead of tax breaks for outsourcing, make refinancing mortgages easier for homeowners, tax credits for small businesses, extend tax credits for green energy companies and create a Veterans Jobs Corps. What’s interesting is that Obama has left off the more controversial items which will be addressed by Congress: student loans, the Violence against Women Act, Keystone, and several other items. Not that the focus is going away on these issues, it’s just that this to-do list add another front in attacking the Republicans in Congress.

The Washington Post is reporting that the Republicans have already come out against Obama’s five-point plan. Eric Cantor said that tax cuts weren’t the way to go, ” . . . we ought to let the investors decide on how best to allocate their capital so that we can see small business grow again”.

The Hill reminds us that this to-do list is ripped right out of the 1996 Clinton playbook though Obama’s to-do list is much more economic in nature. As a former official in both the Clinton and Obama Administrations said:

It’s the same picture, he’s just using different brush strokes. But it speaks to the bigger picture of strengthening the middle class. If you put all these small pieces together, it equals an entire map of making the middle class stronger.