Jeffrey Liebman: Republicans Are Blocking Obama's Jobs Plan

As the economy continues its recovery from the worst downturn in three generations, it's clear that, once again, decisive action is needed to create jobs now and lay the foundation for stronger, shared economic growth. There is a strong consensus about what the immediate challenges facing our economy are: first and foremost, a continued lack of demand as a lingering result of the recession. We also know the areas where this has caused the most damage, including deep state and local government layoffs and continued weakness in the construction sector. And we have a good idea of what tools work best to address these problems. The president has put forward a plan that uses exactly these tools. Nine months ago, President Obama outlined his American Jobs Act and independent economists said it would create as many as 1.9 million jobs. While Congress has acted on some of his proposals—most notably, extending payroll tax cuts that provide $1,000 for an average family—it left more than a million jobs on the table.