Jobs bill offers a multitude of promising incentives and aid

   I must admit I have become disappointed with Mr. Obama.

    I had started to see him as a individual willing to give in to the bullies on Capital Hill, and I just can't get behind someone who isn't willing to fight for what's right. From the outside looking in, I thought he had given up.

    Then, on Sept. 8, Mr. Obama presented a plan to a joint session of Congress. I saw some of the Obama I voted for, not the beaten man that let Cantor and Boehner push him around. Mr. Obama had a strategy all along and, like my grandfather used to tell us, he has picked his battle.

    The American Jobs Act he announced contains all of the best bits debated during the deficit debacle over the summer. It has tax incentives for small businesses, infrastructure rebuilding plans and, most importantly, it will get people back to work. 

     Republicans go on and on that it will be industry that will save us, so this bill should suit them just fine.

  Companies will get tax breaks for hiring or raising salaries. Obama also wants to give them tax breaks on the first $5 million in payroll, affecting 98% of companies.

   Additionally, hiring a veteran could earn up to a $9600 break. Also, Mr. Obama recognizes that companies discriminate against the long term unemployed, so he offers a $4,000 tax credit for hiring the people who have been looking for work for six months or longer.

    For the American people, Mr. Obama asked Congress to pass this bill to extend unemployment benefits for another year.

  He said failing to do so could place an undue hardship on people already in desperate circumstances. He acknowledged the Republican mantra to not raise any taxes. In fact, he applauded it. Because if this bill isn't passed, a payroll tax cut will expire and taxes will increase.

      Mr. Obama offered a way to pay for the program. He proposed having the "Super Committee"  identify more places where spending cuts could be made in proportion to the plans costs.

      He also suggested that the tax codes that allow companies and billionaires to pay less than middle class wage earners be revised and has already identified thousands of loopholes.

   As a consequence of closing those gaps, revenues would increase and ultimately lead to the ability to lower the actual tax rate on companies who hire Americans.

  The President also proposed setting up an independent fund that addresses the national infrastructure problem starting with the most vital and economically stimulative when dispersing loans. This could employ 2 million construction workers, 280,000 public teachers and scores of first responders. 

     The entire plan is centered on the fact that those of us who don't reside on "The Hill"  need something more than their words—we need their actions.

   People are starving and homeless, not because they are lazy, but because they just can't find a job.

  Mr. Obama's plan is not a political move to get him reelected, it is a strategy to get the American people back into first.

Mandie is a junior majoring in secondary social science education. She is married with two children and  serves on the Board of Directors of C.A.R.E.S. Suicide Prevention.