WASHINGTON -- Georgians from both sides of the Congressional aisle agreed that President Barack Obama’s jobs speech on Thursday night was less important than what comes next -- the details of his proposal, and if that proposal can navigate the fractious chambers he addressed.
The speech, in which Obama presented the outline of a $447 billion plan to reinvigorate the economy through tax cuts and spending on construction and employment programs, at times drew cheers from Democrats and Republicans, and the president stressed that the ideas have garnered bipartisan support in the past.
Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, was heartened to hear that the president would push reforms to lower corporate taxes while eliminating loopholes, and work to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses.
"There's lots of room in there for common ground," Woodall said. "The House has been passing job-creation bills all year long and they go to the Senate to die. Who I hope was listening tonight was Harry Reid and the Senate leadership, and I hope this was a call to action for them to begin moving legislation forward."
Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, said he was pleased with the boldness of the plan and especially encouraged to hear Obama say that he would travel the nation to sell it.
"He really preached tonight," Lewis said. " I think he gave a lot of people across America a lot of hope and optimism."
Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson said he liked several specifics that Obama offered, in particular a program to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages that mirrors a bill that Isakson put forth in the Senate.
But overall, Isakson said he did not see a lot of new proposals in the speech.
"There were some new snippets, but it still was pretty much fair share payment on taxes and making sure that everybody gets a job in general thematic terms without a lot of specifics in terms of how to do that," he said.
Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, saw the speech as a repeat of an Obama policy that has drawn particular scorn from Republicans.
"Overall what we heard was Stimulus Two," he said. "It’s like a sequel to the first plan and movie that we saw for the past couple years. I think it’s just more government spending and more taxes in the long run, and that’s not the plan for sustained job growth."
Among the proposals offered by the president was one modeled on Georgia Works, a state program that allows companies to hire temporary workers cost-free from the ranks of the unemployed. The program has a mixed record in the state, and though several Georgia lawmakers saw it as a worthy cause, they were not sold on it becoming a nationwide success.
By and large, the wish list from both parties remained unchanged by the speech.
"In order to create jobs, we need to reduce corporate taxes by reforming the tax code, move to a territorial tax system, eliminate burdensome and costly regulations, put a two-year moratorium on additional regulations coming from Washington, repeal Obamacare and send to Congress the three outstanding free-trade agreements,” Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., said in a written statement.
Most of those initiatives were included in the speech, but the president has refused to reverse course on his signature health care law.
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