By: Lissette Saca
September 9, 2011 10:00am

A warm reception greeted President Obama as he entered the House Chamber last night to deliver his speech on jobs. This speech had been highly anticipated by, not only members of congress, but also by the countless number of people in our country without jobs. Obama started off by saying that “we are meeting at an urgent time for our country.” He stressed that action must be taken immediately and urged lawmakers to “stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy.”

The purpose of Obama’s proposed $447 Billion American Jobs Act is to put more people back to work and to put more money back in the pockets of those people who are working. The act specifically plans to help America’s teachers, manufacturing workers, long-term unemployed and both small and big business. To achieve this, the act features tax breaks for companies who hire new workers who have been out of work for more than six months and who also hire America’s veterans. It also creates new construction jobs which will “repair and modernize” at least 35,000 schools, which will shift the focus back to increasing education for our youth and will “put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong.” The propositions in the bill are nothing new, Obama made it very clear that what the American Jobs Act proposes has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past. President Obama assured the American public that the proposed act, if passed, will not add to the deficit, it will be paid for. How?

“Obama said he will ask Congress to increase the $1.5 trillion target in deficit reduction being pursued by a special joint congressional committee to cover the cost of the plan and propose his own deficit-reduction plan on September 19 that would reform entitlement programs such as Medicare while changing the tax system to end loopholes, lower the corporate tax rate and increase taxes for the wealthy.” (CNN.com)

The current debate circling news outlets after the speech? Will Republicans support the American Jobs Act as proposed by the President? The answer so far? Yes and No. The truth is that though most Republicans believe that reducing government spending is the best way to get the economy back on track, not through increasing spending, such as Obama’s plan proposes. They do, however, agree with some of the proposals in Obama’s Jobs Bill such as payroll tax cuts and modifications to Medicare. Throughout his speech, President Obama urged lawmakers to “pass this jobs bill right away.” Whether his pleas are heard remains to be seen.