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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Obama Lauds Passage Of Jobs Bill, Credits Bipartisanship

By Shayndi Raice

Dow Jones Newswires

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama thanked the Senate for passing a $17.5 billion jobs bill this morning, praising Republicans for supporting the bipartisan legislation.

"It is the first of what I hope to be a series of job packages that will help to continue to put people back to work all across America," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office. "I want to say to the Republicans who voted for this bill that I appreciate their willingness to work with Democrats in a bipartisan fashion to get America moving again."

The centerpiece of the Senate measure would excuse business owners from having to pay their 6.2% of federal payroll taxes for the rest of 2010 on new employees they hire that have been out of work for at least two months. If the worker is still on an employer's books in a year, the business owner would receive a further $1,000 tax credit.

The White House believes the tax break will inspire businesses to hire workers they otherwise wouldn't, helping ease the 9.7% jobless rate.

The Senate passed the bill in a 68-29 vote, with 11 Republicans joining the Democratic majority to support the measure. It now goes to the White House for Obama's signature.

The legislation, which also extends an expense write-off provision for small businesses and modestly expands the so-called "Build America Bonds" program, is one piece of a broader job-creation agenda Democrats hope to advance in the weeks ahead.

The president also said that Representative Dennis Kucinich's (D., Ohio) decision to vote for the health care bill was a "good sign."

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