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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (14127)	10/27/2003 9:43:30 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793779

Nice find on the Lynch article, Karen. The latest from "The Hill." ____________________________________ GOP team calming job nerves By Alexander Bolton Senate Republican leaders are working to calm the fears of colleagues nervous about unemployment and the economy as Democrats threaten to block key pieces of a GOP jobs package unveiled earlier this month. Internal GOP polls show that while voters recognize the economy is getting better, more disapprove than approve of President Bush’s handling of the economy. Unemployment is brewing into a big political issue in states anticipated to have competitive Senate races, such as Alaska and Washington. GOP research shows that while swing voters have more faith in Republicans to manage the economy, they trust Democrats more when it comes to creating and safeguarding jobs. patrick g. ryan Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) looking for an uptick in employment figures as he seeks reelection. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However, Democratic lawmakers grumble that their party has failed to take advantage of economic conditions because the Democratic presidential candidates, including five members of Congress, have failed to promote their own bold economic plans, instead preferring to bash Bush on the campaign trail. And tactics that have stymied crucial pieces of the GOP jobs initiative have also tarnished Senate Democrats in voters’ view. Senate GOP Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.) shared party research in a memo to colleagues last week. It showed that a majority of Americans believe the economy is beginning to improve but also that most voters surveyed — 70 percent — did not think their families would benefit from the turnaround. Fifty-two percent predicted their finances would stay the same, and 18 percent anticipated a personal turn for the worse. “The only thing I see is that I have too many people unemployed and I got too many people worrying about whether they’re going to be working or not,” said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), who will face reelection next year. “I think we’re going to see an uptick in employment, but there are some systematic things that need to be done right now and a lot of them are the responsibility of Congress,” he said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is also up for election next year, agreed that jobs will be a big issue, noting that her home state has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. “In some parts of my state unemployment is not only double digits but there are certain parts of the state where we have stopped counting unemployment, specifically the statistics, because there are no jobs,” said Murkowski, who was appointed to her post by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski. Voinovich said Congress needs to pass an energy bill to solve soaring costs that have pushed many companies out of business, reduce the cost of healthcare, and limit class action lawsuits, asbestos-related lawsuits and medical malpractice litigation. Republicans have combined several of these proposals, namely the energy bill, asbestos- litigation reform and class-action reform, in an ambitious jobs initiative. But Democrats defeated a major component last week by filibustering a plan to move class-action lawsuits to federal courts, which generally are less sympathetic to trial lawyers than state courts. Earlier this year, Democrats filibustered and defeated legslation limiting the awards in medical malpractice cases. Now Democrats are threatening also to filibuster legislation that would limit business liability in asbestos lawsuits. But these tactical victories have come at a cost. Santorum notes party findings that half of voters believe that Senate Democrats are blocking GOP proposals for partisan reasons, compared to 32 percent who think the opposition is based on legislative principle. Santorum noted for colleagues that a proposed Republican jobs package that provides tax incentives, eases regulations and caps lawsuits has broad support — 78 percent — and is favored by independents and even Democrats. “The bottom line is that people want something done, and this shows that Senate Republicans are on the move to keep pro-economy and pro-job solutions in the pipeline,” Santorum wrote. Some Democratic senators agree that voters most want to see progress on jobs, which may be why members of Congress at the front of the Democratic primary pack are having difficulty gaining traction on the economy, even though the GOP’s own research shows that that 46 percent of American’s disapprove of Bush’s handling of the economy, compared to 44 percent who approve. “I think people are anxious about national security and economic security and what they want most is for [the government] to get something done,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell (D), who said unemployment is a big issue in her home state of Washington and other Northwestern states.” “I think that’s part of the reason why the presidential candidates [can’t] get to the next level,” she added. “They’re just saying what’s wrong with George Bush. You’ve got to have a vision for America and what you want to invest in. That’s why I don’t think any of them have broken out. I don’t think any of them have projected that.” Public polls show that more Americans rate the sluggish economy as the most important problem facing the country than other issues, including the war on terrorism. In the last two and a half years, the U.S. economy has shed 2.8 million jobs. However, earlier this month Republicans caught a ray of good news when the Labor Department reported that the 57,000 new jobs were created in September. And the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.1 percent from its June peak of 6.4 percent. And a report sent Thursday to GOP leadership aides from the Department of Commerce showed that jobless claims dropped by 84,000 during the week that ended Oct. 18. thehill.com