With 2012 Looming, STL Pols React to Jobs Speech

St. Louis metro area lawmakers reacted swiftly to President Barack Obama’s speech to a nation eager for action on an anemic economy.

Obama addressed Congress on Thursday, offering legislation aimed at bolstering transportation infrastructure, expanding the payroll tax cut and addressing the needs of the long-term unemployed. The speech came on the heels of a nasty confrontation to .

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reaction to the speech differed depending on party affiliation. For instance, U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO, said in a statement “the devil is in the details, and I’ll be taking a hard look at the president’s ideas in the next few days.” 

“But the bottom line is that Congress must come together and compromise to tackle this challenge,” McCaskill said. “If there’s one message I hope Congress left with tonight, it’s that putting more folks back to work is more important than who’s going to win the next election.”

The tone of McCaskill's quote diverged from Rep. Todd Akin-MO reaction to the plan. Akin, a Wildwood Republican who represents Sunset Hills in Congress, said in a Facebook message that the country “cannot spend our way to economic recovery.”

“The president's stimulus failed us, and we will not support yet another big spending plan,” Akin said.

DIFFERED EXPECTATIONS

Before the speech, Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-MO, urged the president to bolster the nation’s transportation and manufacturing infrastructure.

Carnahan released a YouTube video and held a conference call before Obama’s speech. In a conference call that included business and labor officials, Carnahan urged the president to make transportation construction a priority.

“That bill alone would support more than 15,000 jobs in Missouri,” Carnahan said of a looming transportation bill. “The reauthorization of that transportation bill will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. We know from experience that for every billions we invest in construction we create over 35,000 new jobs. That bill would also improve our roads, our bridges, our trains, which help move this economy.”

Carnahan also said he wanted to see elements of the Make it in America proposal. That plan—which Carnahan touted earlier this year with —is aimed at jump-starting the nation’s dormant manufacturing apparatus.

“It is key I think toward revitalizing American manufacturing and creating jobs,” Carnahan said. “The Make it in America agenda is a series of bills that would help our country compete in this global economy where we will have to out-educate, out-innovate and out-invest in new infrastructure to compete in that global market.”

Indeed, Obama’s speech touched on boosting transportation infrastructure and improving the nation’s manufacturing sector.

Akin—who is running for the U.S. Senate against McCaskill—had a different take before Obama took the podium. The U.S. Senate candidate sent out a letter to supporters that stated he had low expectations for the speech.

“Unemployment continues to climb, and President Obama is slated to deliver a speech in a joint session of Congress tomorrow evening,” Akin said in the letter. “Unfortunately, I expect we will hear more of the same from the president. He already tried to play political games by scheduling the speech in the middle of a republican presidential debate, and he sent an email to his supporters blaming Republicans for rising unemployment.” 

Akin went on to say that Obama blames the nation’s unemployment situation on Congress and “in particular conservative members of Congress who believe growing federal government is not the answer to rising unemployment.”

“I don't know about you, but I'm tired of Obama's rhetoric and finger pointing, and I'm ready to elect a real leader to the White House!” Akin said in the letter. 

MARTIN, WAGNER SOUND OFF

While Carnahan’s 2012 plans are uncertain, he may run in Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District that encompasses Crestwood and Sunset Hills.

The two announced Republican contenders for that seat released statements critical of Obama’s speech.

Ann Wagner—a Ballwin resident who used to be chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party and ambassador to Luxemburg—said in a statement the address amounted to “a speech from the same president who promised us the world in the 2008 campaign and who promised us jobs as president.”

“Here we are, a country hurting two and a half years later from the president’s last grand 'plan,' and an unemployment rate that is not below 8 percent, it's above 9 percent,” Wagner said. “The president tonight should have kept things simple and supported the kind of jobs plan that I have talked about since I entered this race for Congress.”

That, Wagner said, includes cutting spending, lowering taxes and reducing overregulation “that keep small businesses from growing and hiring new workers.”

Ed Martin—an attorney who unsuccessfully ran against Carnahan in 2010—said in a Web video released earlier this week that alluded to a speech Obama made near the Gateway Arch in 2008.

“He talked about hope and change, he talked about jobs,” Martin said. “Now we know what he said was empty promises. A little bit later, we saw a tea party rally on these same grounds. Thousands of people saying ‘stop—stop what you’re doing.’”

“We’ve had enough of your speeches and enough of your words sir,” Martin said.