President Obama is certain to again demand action this week in Congress on his jobs creation package, but for now, there is no rush by Democrats in the Senate to even bring the measure up for floor debate.
"It’s been almost three weeks since I sent the American Jobs Act to Congress," the President said in his weekend radio address, warming up for another week of public shots at Republicans in Congress on the matter.
"It is time for the politics to end. Let’s pass this jobs bill," Mr. Obama concluded.
The President will have the chance to make that point in a full day of campaign travel on Tuesday, as he goes to Texas and Missouri, which the White House told reporters has a clear goal.
The President will "deliver remarks urging Congress to pass the American Jobs Act now to keep teachers in the classroom, rebuild our schools across the nation, and put more money in the pockets of working Americans, while not adding a dime to the deficit," said the White House press notice.
But while the White House will again be calling for action by lawmakers, the first order of business in the Senate this week - that would the Senate which is controlled by the President's own party - will be a measure on China's currency.
That bill deals with a longstanding foreign policy complaint lodged by the United States against China, that the Chinese intentionally keep their currency undervalued as a way to promote their exports around the world.
Basically, this bill would declare that currency manipulation is a form of a subsidy, which could then lead to tariffs being placed on Chinese imports.
It's not clear how long the Chinese currency bill will stay on the Senate floor.
At this point, Democrats probably don't have 50 votes for the underlying Obama jobs bill, as Democrats are split for a variety of reasons.
Some Senate Democrats don't like the way the plan is paid for with higher taxes; others don't like higher tax levies on the oil and gas industry as well as other details.
And at this point, Republicans aren't lending any support at all.
Over in the House, the bill has been introduced, but is not on the schedule as yet, as GOP leaders try to determine the best way to deal with the issue, whether it's their own plan or a hybrid of Republican ideas plus some from the Obama Administration.
So, while you may hear President Obama say, "Pass this bill" again this week, that jobs bill is not going anywhere fast in the Congress as the month of October begins.
