It’s so predictable that I often don’t write about every month: the first Friday of the month a news alert is issued about a sub-par job report and the political class reacts.
This report is no different. The US created an anemic 88,000 jobs last month and our unemployment rate, while falling, remains too high and falling too slow at 7.6%.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor released the following:
“Today’s jobs report is disappointing. As former Obama economic advisor Austan Goolsbee said,
‘This is a punch to the gut.’ (emph. added)
Our economy is not creating enough jobs, and too many working men and women are still in the unemployment line. And this is the lowest workforce participation rate since 1979. Sadly, people are simply giving up, and losing hope.
“For months, we’ve heard plenty of excuses from the White House and Congressional Democrats for why unemployment remains high. It’s time to stop making excuses and start working together on common sense solutions to address our lingering unemployment problem, and the stagnant economy.
“In March, the House passed the SKILLS Act to streamline the current maze of job training programs and help folks develop the skills they need to compete for good jobs in their area. This is the type of common sense idea that we all should be able to agree is necessary. If the President has a different approach to fixing these training programs, as he has said, I encourage him to bring it to the table, and let’s get to work. Let’s make smart reforms, create opportunity and make life work for more families.”
I think that’s the most troubling aspect of all this — Republicans from the House keep proposing ideas to get our country on track and none of them ever see the light of day over in the Senate.
As I wrote yesterday, Senator Tim Kaine praised Rep. Scott Rigell for his willingess to at least reach across the aisle and discuss things like increased revenue. The senator also said that Democrats need to look at things like cutting spending. What I’d really like to see is our two senators – both Democrats – from Virginia insist that Majority Leader Harry Reid bring to the floor some of these bills that the Republican House passes to be debated and amended or killed. At least we’d have legislative progress instead of this frustrating purgatory.
Or, if it really is all about the president getting what he wants, it would be nice if the president’s BFF, Governor, Chairman, Senator Kaine, would influence the administration to stop lobbing churlish comments towards House legislation and actually get them off the dime, proposing solutions to these problems.
As Zach Martin, a new candidate for the House of Delegates in the 19th District (competing with three other Republicans to replace the retiring Del. Lacey Putney), stated today, his district has some of the highest unemployment in the country, including Alleghany County at 8.6% and Bedford and Covington cities at 10%.
It’s way past time for the president and his party to do something. They won the elections – in 2008 (Obama/Warner) and 2012 (Obama/Kaine).
From a 2009 leadership meeting:
“Obama told Cantor this morning that “on some of these issues we’re just going to have ideological differences.”
The president added, “I won. So I think on that one, I trump you.”
Fine. Then lead.
