On October 12 Vice President Joe Biden asserted that violent crime such as murder, rape, and burglary will inevitably increase if Republicans in Congress reject the Obama administration’s proposed jobs bill. Biden’s statements do not interpret any statistical evidence and many Americans, including many non-Republicans regard these statements as arbitrary and “irresponsible” (Fox News).
The legislation in question, backed by the Obama Administration, is a $35 billion bill that would delegate $30 billion to aid state and local governments in ensuring the jobs of 400,000 teachers. The remaining $5 million will enable cities to retain jobs for 18,000 police officers and 7,000 firefighters (Fox News).
Biden responded to Congress’ defeat of the bill during a speech to Philadelphia police officers at the University of Pennsylvania,
“Let me tell you, it’s not temporary when that 9-1-1 call comes in and a woman’s being raped. If a cop shows up in time to prevent the rape, it’s not temporary to that woman,” Biden said with his voice rising. “It’s not temporary to the guy whose store is being held up and has a gun being pointed to his head if a cop shows up and he’s not killed. That’s not temporary to that store owner. Give me a break -- temporary. I wish these guys who thought it was temporary, I wish they had some notion what it’s like be on the other side of a gun or a 200-pound man standing over you telling you to submit. Folks, it matters. It matters.”
These remarks are outlandish and may be interpreted by victims of violent crimes as sponsoring a manipulative political agenda. The Vice President’s comment was an inappropriate and tactless effort to gain support for the Democratic jobs bill.
In response to Congress’ initial rejection of Obama’s $447 billion dollar jobs bill, Senate Republicans are pushing their own agenda. They have cultivated their own legislation in regards to the “jobs issue” which includes tax reform, a balanced budget amendment, a repeal of the federal health care law and lifting prohibitions on offshore drilling (Fox News).
While delivering a speech in Virginia, one stop on Obama’s bus tour to promote his jobs bill, Obama responded to the Republican proposed bill by stating, “Let me repeat, dirtier air, dirtier water, repealing health care and ending rules on Wall Street is not a jobs plan” (Fox News). Recently on his tour, Obama has made remarks in support of the jobs bill every two days, and in a different state every six days.
Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, provides an interesting perspective concerning the Republican Senators decision to fight the Democratic jobs bill. Henry Reid stated that the Republican Senators rejected the bill in correspondence with their political agenda, to elect a Republican president. By rejecting the bill, the crippling jobs issue will not be corrected in any way, preceding the 2012 election (Fox News).
In opposition to Obama’s statement, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stated on Wednesday that Obama needs to “park the campaign bus, shelve the talking points and focus on jobs” (Fox News). McConnell points out, “It’s completely preposterous at a time when 14 million Americans are looking for a job in this country for the president to be riding around on a bus saying we should raise taxes – on the very folks who create jobs” (Fox News).
Works Cited: Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/19/biden-evokes-sexual-violent-imagery-again-in-push-for-447-jobs-bill/#ixzz1cDcjzt4L
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