Obama's Jobs Plan Speech Garners Large TV Audience

By Elisha Maldonado, political reporter: Subscribe to Elisha's RSS feed

September 10, 2011 1:03 PM EDT

In a rare joint-session address Thursday, President Barack Obama rolled out a significantly large jobs package. And on Saturday, the Nielsen ratings company reported that a sizeable audience tuned in to hear it.

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According to Nielsen, 31.4 million television viewers watched the president's jobs speech, 10 million more than those who have watched his State of the Union or other major speeches.

Obama urged Congress to promptly pass a jobs package of tax cuts and government spending in order to revive the stalled economy. Otherwise, United States faces a "national crisis."

The cost of Obama's plan is $447 billion in tax breaks, highway and rail spending, and unemployment benefits to get the economy back on track. In order to pass this, Obama challenged Republicans and Democrats alike to momentarily set aside their partisan leanings and pass the measures.

"The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy," Obama said. "It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away."

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Taking aim at Republicans who have consistently opposed his initiatives, Obama loaded his plan with roughly $250 billion in tax cuts. In a way, challenging Republicans to support him.

"For everyone who speaks so passionately about making life easier for 'job creators,' this plan is for you," he said.

On Friday, the top four House Republican leaders requested the details of the president's jobs plan, the Washington Post reported.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling, Texas, made their formal request in a letter to Obama Friday afternoon.

"We look forward to receiving legislative text for any of your ideas in a manner that can be score by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and to the upcoming speech you described last night in which you will detail the offsets that will be needed to ensure your proposals are paid for," the leaders wrote.

The president's plan, called the American Jobs Act, is more than half of his $787 billion stimulus passed by a Democratic-majority Congress in 2009. But Obama promises it would cut taxes for workers and businesses and put more construction workers and teachers on the job through infrastructure projects.

"It will provide a tax break for companies who hire new workers and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working American and every small business," he said.

With his poll numbers at new lows amid voter frustration with 9.1 percent unemployment, and estimates from his own economists last week projecting an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent in the fall of 2012, Obama wants swift action.

"Every proposal I've laid out tonight is the kind that's been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past," he said. "I know there's been a lot of skepticism about whether the politics of the moment will allow us to pass this jobs plan - or any jobs plan, but know this: The next election is 14 months away and the people who sent us here -- the people who hired us to work for them - they don't have the luxury of waiting 14 months.

"They need help, and they need it now," Obama said.

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