Najib fights to keep his job
Obama banks on jobs plan to save his presidency
Joint session ... U.S. President Barack Obama addresses Congress on Capitol Hill.Photo: Reuters
BARACK OBAMA'S second big stimulus plan would be paid for through tax increases, spending cuts and trims to medical programs for the elderly and the poor.
But the estimated $US450 billion ($425 billion) jobs initiative risks reigniting the feud between Democrats and Republicans that last month brought the US within a day of defaulting on its debt obligations.
Seeking to rejuvenate a flagging economy - and his 2012 re-election prospects - Mr Obama unveiled the new measures before a joint session of Congress, which he urged to ''make a difference'' for America's 14 million unemployed.
The centrepiece of the package, more than half the size of Mr Obama's February 2009 stimulus, is a 50 per cent cut in payroll tax (from 6.2 per cent) for most businesses plus a payroll tax holiday for added workers, intended to encourage hiring and consumer spending.
The plan also provides billions of dollars for states to prevent the lay-off of thousands of teachers, police and fire-fighters, plus incentives for employers to hire veterans. Money is also earmarked for infrastructure programs, including bridge-building and the refurbishment of 35,000 schools.
The President challenged members of Congress to put aside the ideological differences that had caused gridlock in Washington over plans for raising the nation's $US14.3 trillion debt ceiling, adding that his legislation was full of measures that Republicans and Democrats could support with conscience.
''There should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation,'' he told them. ''The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working … You should pass this jobs plan right away.''
The US recovery has ground to a halt in recent months, with unemployment pinned above 9 per cent. Mr Obama assured Republicans that the initiatives would be paid for, saying he would ask a Congressional ''super-committee'' to add the cost to the $US1.5 trillion of spending cuts it must identify by Christmas as part of last month's debt ceiling deal.
But Mr Obama again proposed tax increases for big corporations and the rich that Republicans reject, setting the stage for a renewed scrap that is likely to be fought right to election day.
Pressing his case, he characterised the options facing legislators as tax loopholes for oil corporations versus tax credits for small business; tax breaks for billionaires or jobs for teachers.
''This isn't political grandstanding,'' he continued. ''This isn't class warfare. This is simple math. These are real choices we have to make. And I'm pretty sure I know what most Americans would choose.''
While not endorsing the President's blueprint, Republican House Leader John Boehner said that the jobs proposals ''merit consideration''. ''We hope he gives serious consideration to our ideas as well,'' he added.
But the Republican co-chairman of the special committee charged with finding budget savings complained the demand for extra cuts was too ambitious. Jeb Hensarling, of Texas, said the demand ''would make the already arduous challenge of finding bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction nearly impossible''
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In October Najib will be presenting the budget. This budget will be his life line or death row, depending on whose account Najib is willing to sacrifice.
Now, as far as investment and future earning coming into this country, everything has been channeled into the next generation accounts of the top elite UMNO members and their five musketeers for the next 30 years. Money and gold bars are safely kept in twenty (20) private accounts overseas. The nearest one in Singapore. Will Najib dare to touch this group?
The 2nd group would be the Ministers, Senators, cronies, Royalties. Will Najib chip off abit here?
Then the people working for the above two. Will Najib dump them?
The illegal migrates who are now citizens of Malaysia and the other five (5) million not registered illegal migrates. Will Najib give them wheel chairs?
As we are constantly being make to share the last drop of water with the above groups, will Najib even offer us a hole to be buried in?
In the meantime, there are now three groups within UMNO and certain Royal Household ready at all cost to destroy the party if Najib does not share the pie with them. And all this in the month of October where the new cycle of life begins.
WELCOME TO A YEAR OF KARMA.
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