Today in Washington D. C. - Dec 3, 2009 - Is Obama's Jobs Summit Simply A PR Stunt, A Political Event, Or What?

The Senate reconvened ; and resumed consideration of the Reid substitute amendment to H.R. 3590, the vehicle for Democrats’ health care reform bill. The Senate will vote on an amendment from Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and one from Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), both concerning health services for women. Then  the Senate will vote on an amendment from Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) designed to give Democrats cover for their cuts to Medicare. As Sen. McConnell explained this morning, that amendment will still allow the cuts to go forward.

Following that vote, though, senators will have the opportunity to actually prevent Medicare cuts with a vote on the McCain motion to recommit the bill to committee and have it reported back without the half trillion dollars in Medicare cuts.

Today’s big news is that the White House will be hosting a “jobs summit” ostensibly to bring people together to brainstorm ideas on how to create jobs, a month after the unemployment rate topped 10%. But ABC News asks the most important question today, “Is the White House jobs summit an event that will spur tangible actions or simply a glorified public-relations stunt? . . . With the country dealing with its highest unemployment rate in 26 years, the administration is under pressure to get Americans back to work. . . . The jobs summit, announced a week after the Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment reached 10.2 percent, is the administration’s latest effort to do just that, but some critics say it’s little more than a publicity stunt. ‘We’re not going to get anything useful out of it,’ said Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. The president and his treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, ‘really don’t know what to do,’ Morici said.”

And many people may recall that the AP reported when the jobs summit was first announced, “President Barack Obama says creating jobs isn’t the goal of a coming White House forum on jobs and economic growth.” So what is the point, then? Will the summit spend any time examining the Obama administration’s last effort on jobs, the $787 billion stimulus bill that failed to prevent 10% unemployment, spends money on golf carts, turtle tunnels, and dubious research projects, and reports funds going to non-existent congressional districts? And today, we find out from The Washington Post, “Reports from stimulus recipients show that a sizable sum has gone to federal contractors in the Washington area who are helping implement the initiative -- in effect, they are being paid a hefty slice of the money to help spend the rest of it.”

Or maybe it’s a political event?  The Wall Street Journal editorializes today, “we’ll leave [politics] to the White House experts who today will stage a ‘jobs summit.’ We’ll go out on a limb and predict nothing of substance will come of this event—except maybe cheerleading for a second stimulus—though it does reveal the deepening political panic over the unemployment rate that rose to 10.2% in October and might stay high long enough to affect the 2010 election.” ABC adds, “Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, echoed that criticism of the administration’s efforts, dubbing the jobs summit ‘a political show.’ Dunkelberg gave the administration a ‘D’ on creating new jobs. ‘There’s been a lot of money spent and authorized, but it really hasn’t been very effective at delivering job creation,’ he told ABC News’ business correspondent Betsy Stark.”

If the Obama administration really wants to promote job creation, they might want to reconsider the wisdom of pushing harmful legislation in Congress such as a government takeover of health care that features nearly $500 billion in tax increases and climate legislation that features a slew of new energy taxes and regulations.

House Leader Boehner will host a roundtable discussion with leading economists and GOP leaders today his office at the Capitol at 11:00 AM to discuss job-threatening policies moving through Congress that are creating uncertainty for small businesses, the engine of job creation in America. At the conclusion of the meeting, Boehner and meeting participants will hold a media availability to recap discussions.

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