Some good ideas but no game-changers. Unsupported assertions that it won't swell the debt. Little or no reason to believe that it can survive the political sausage factory.
That was what metro Atlantans heard Thursday night as President Barack Obama laid out his long-awaited prescription for putting Americans back to work. Fresh on the heels of the televised speech, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke to several workers -- employed and unemployed -- small business owners and experts about the president's proposals.
"There was nothing that made me go, ‘Yeah,'" said Christopher Hanks, a small businessman and lecturer on entrepreneurship at the University of Georgia. "But there are things I nodded my head on -- for example, payroll tax cuts. That is good. But that is not going to make you charge out and hire five people tomorrow.
"If you are on the fence, it might push you over," Hanks said. "But I don't see that bringing a drastic change in behavior for CEOs."
With fourteen months to a presidential election, Hanks also was skeptical that those who will have to hammer out workable details can get past the politics.
Generally, those in the business world welcomed talk of tax cuts and incentives to hire, although they were perplexed by the lack of any mention of lines of credit for small businesses. They hoped that the proposals would begin what they know will have to be a long, slow cruise-ship turn for the economy, but they were wary that politics would swamp the boat.
More months of political gridlock will not inspire the confidence that businesses need to move ahead, said Peter Rassel, a business consultant at Georgia State University's Small Business Development Center.
"I think among our clients, some have been very reluctant to bring on more people because of the way the economy is," he said.
They don't want to hire people then have the extra cost dragging them down if the economy sinks further.
"If they feel confident and a little more certain of the marketplace, they will come around to hiring. But it is that issue of certainty," Rassel said.
Sanquinetta Dover of Atlanta's Dover Staffing chose to put her best beliefs forward.
"I want to believe that people would put aside partisan beliefs and come together for the country because we are Americans and we all love our country," she said.
Dover was excited by the tax cuts and other proposals.
"As a small business owner, I was real excited to hear about cutting taxes for hiring, because that will bring me immediate money," she said.
The 20-year-old company handles temporary and full-time hiring for blue- and white-collar jobs, as well as coordinates project management for companies.
"That can be used for innovation and training and project management," she said.
Rocco Totino liked parts of the speech, but he still had reservations .
Totino, 61, an export company worker from Lilburn, approved of the president’s plans to offer tax breaks for companies that hire new workers and cut payroll taxes for workers and small businesses.
But he was concerned about the push for new construction and infrastructure programs. He doubted that all the roads and bridges and schools the president spoke about really needed all this work.
And he feared the costs.
“It’s difficult for me to understand where the money is coming from to build these things," he said.
Debbie Whelchel doubted that the plan contained enough new ideas to revive the economy.
“Giving out more unemployment benefits is not creating jobs,” said Whelchel, 48, a stay-at-home mom in Suwanee whose job as a school aide was eliminated two years ago. She’d like to work again, but figures this is no environment to go looking for a job.
She felt Obama was simply putting new treads on old stimulus plans -- plans that “didn’t work.”
She also felt Obama came off looking arrogant as he repeatedly told the members of Congress that they had to pass his bill right away.
“With 9 percent unemployment, he should show some humility,” she said.
Jacki Mooney, who has been out of work for 14 months, was inspired by the speech.
“I liked it when he spoke about stopping the political circus and doing something for the American people,” said Mooney, 61, of DeKalb County. “I liked it when he said we don’t just cut people loose. We are a country that helps each other.”
Mooney, who draws architectural plans on a computer, hoped the incentives to businesses would help her find a job.
She wasn’t sure about the affordability , but said, “I know the country can’t afford millions of people out of work with no hope. When you go to job fairs with 5,000 people, and go week after week, and you don’t get any response, and you don’t have any hope – that’s no way to live.”
Some people were suspicious of the plan, worried that it would favor some employers over others.
"When I hear him talk about providing jobs for teachers and construction workers with federal contracts, I worry that it's a big pro-union theme," said Joyce Williams, 30, a hospital secretary who lives in Woodstock.
She added, "I'm tired of being lied to by all the politicians, on both sides. I always feel like I'm watching a show."
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