OPINION:
After a two-year delay in addressing rising unemployment, President Obama has been campaigning about his American Jobs Act, and campaigning hard.
But we’ve heard nothing more than urgings along the lines of “We’ve got to pass this bill.” Meanwhile, his rhetoric and position remains unchanged. The bill was defeated in the House, in its entirety and in parts. Mr. Obama refused to pay attention to the strong negative recommendations in granting Solyndra $535 million; the firm went bankrupt, taking with it 1,100 jobs. Solyndra was just the first in a line of dominoes to fall.
Mr. Obama has not supported Congress’ 22 bipartisan jobs bills still sitting on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s desk. Just the other day, the president’s State Department delayed the Keystone XL pipeline that would have gone from Canada to Texas. This move eliminated some 20,000 pending jobs. The pipeline’s construction is delayed at least until the first quarter of 2013, which is after the elections. How convenient. Mr. Obama is appeasing the environmentalists and delaying union ire.
These moves show clearly that Mr. Obama cares more about his re-election than he does about addressing the needs of America’s unemployed.
JACQUELYN WILSON
Whispering Pines, N.C.
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