Barack Obama Jobs Plan | featured news

A united Senate emphatically approved legislation Thursday intended to help unemployed veterans and companies doing business with the government, endorsing a measure that includes the first small slice of President Barack Obama's jobs plan that is likely to become law....

Senate Democrats proposed Friday tax incentives for businesses hiring veterans as well as job training for all service members leaving the military. The measure was unveiled as the next piece in President Obama's jobs bill and as a remedy to unemployment among veterans.

Republicans in the Senate Thursday dealt President Barack Obama the third in a string of defeats on his stimulus-style jobs agenda, blocking a $60 billion measure for building and repairing infrastructure like roads and rail lines.

Economic growth has gained some strength but remains too slow and would benefit from passage of a package of job proposals that congressional Republicans have blocked, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Saturday.

It's not just Republicans who are blocking President Obama's jobs bill. Two Senate Democrats -- Jon Tester of Montana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska -- also opposed Obama on a procedural vote this week, and other Democrats have also raised questions about the $447 billion American Jobs Act.

A large group of Senate Republicans unveiled a jobs bill Thursday, saying they were tired of hearing President Obama assert they had not put forward a plan to spur hiring and jump-start the economy.

In advance of tonight's vote on President Obama's jobs package, unemployed Americans are gathering outside the Capitol to press for passage, reflecting Occupy Wall Street protests in major cities across the country.

President Barack Obama, seeking to rally support for his jobs plan in two states pivotal in next year's election, suggested that the nation needs to regain a competitive edge in technology and education.

Even if Congress heeds President Barack Obama's demands to "pass this bill right away" and enacts his jobs and tax plan in its entirety, the unemployment rate probably still would hover in nosebleed territory for at least three more years.

President Obama’s support is eroding among elements of his base, and Republicans have not coalesced around a candidate, a New York Times/CBS News poll found.