American Elephants

President Obama sent a message to Congress.  He would like to make a televised address to a joint session of the House and the Senate, on Wednesday, September 1, at 8:00 p.m.  The President may ask, but not order. Presidents are usually invited, and do not demand a time slot. Congress is a co-equal branch of government, a fact that the President sometimes forgets. A speech to a joint session of Congress is an unusual occurrence, usually reserved for the State of the Union, and the attack on America on 9/11.

Surely it is merely a coincidence that the Republicans have a major debate on that day and at that time.  Not even reporters at the Washington Post could swallow that one, and were embarrassed that Jay Carney was sent out to claim coincidence. It was a clumsy political move, and a mistake.

Speaker Boehner responded for the House of Representatives that he would be washing his hair at that particular time. (Well, no, that’s not what Speaker Boehner said. I lied) He returned a very polite letter explaining why Wednesday was not possible — first time Congress is in session with votes at 6:30 that evening, no time, requires 3 hours for a joint session speech, need full security sweep before receiving a president, etc. etc. We look forward to hearing your ideas, how about Thursday?

White House has said Thursday’s fine, and will get done before the game. In the past 2½ years Obama has given over 200 speeches on jobs and the economy. Blogger Ed Morrissey noted that Obama previewed Obama’s blockbuster speech in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams:

Williams: Let’s talk about another topic that’s part of the firmament here and everywhere. And that’s the economy. The New York Times said this weekend, “President Obama has another new plan on the economy. Now would be a good time to find out about it.” Do you have anything new on the economy? And while you’ve been away, we had a horrible GDP number last month.

Obama: Well, look, we–we anticipated that the recovery was slowing. The economy is still growing, but it’s not growing as fast as it needs to. I’ve got things right now in–before Congress that we should move immediately. And I’ve said so before I went on vacation, and I’ll keep on saying when I–now that I’m back.

This interview aired on Sunday Aug. 29, 2010.  Over at the Wall Street Journal, James Taranto said that Obama is a one-man echo chamber. He keeps echoing the same ideas over and over. Taranto notes further that “the so-called mainstream media is engaged in a bizarre propaganda effort, aimed not so much at persuading voters to agree with Obama but at convincing politicians that voters agree with Obama.

President Obama has described the policies he plans to offer in his speech as “bipartisan ideas that ought to be the kind of proposals that everyone can get behind.” One of them is the employer tax credit for those who hire. Both Democrats and Republicans oppose this as simply unworkable. Business will hire when there is enough demand for their product that they need more people. Economists point out that the cost of hiring a new full-time worker often costs more than the tax credit is worth.

He will propose his “infrastructure bank,” and idea that will not go far in the House.  The President does not seem to understand infrastructure.  Projects will often take years to come to fruition, with planning, environmental reviews, funding, and politics.  “Construction” workers laid off by the housing crisis carpenters, electricians, plumbers aren’t the same people as the ironworkers who build high rises, nor the construction workers who build highways and bridges. Union workers don’t get to move from trade to trade.

Obama’s devotion to big government leads him to think that government programs can create jobs, when the problem is getting government out of the way. Business, over and over, has told the administration that government programs are the problem, but that is not what Obama wants to hear.

Republicans are readying a plan of their own.  They ave been investigating and inventorying the regulatory burdens for job creators in the private sector.  They will attempt to repeal  job-destroying regulations and to lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the business community.  They also want to tackle fundamental and structural reform of the rule-making system.   Here is a memo from Majority Leader Eric Cantor outlining the ten most job-destroying regulations that will create even more job losses for American workers.

You might want to let your congressmen know that you want these execrable and foolish regulations repealed.