The Leader's Ledger

State Of Play: While President Obama Attacks House Republicans, Senate Democrats Block A Vote On President Obama’s Bill

Senator Reid Again Delays A Vote On President Obama’s Bill. The move, which Democrats blocked, was designed by Republicans to highlight that even some Democratic senators oppose the president's plan and it can't pass. ... The Senate floor exchange took place moments before the president delivered a speech in Texas where he again challenged Congress to take up his bill. Reid, who has delayed consideration of the bill for weeks while he dealt with other Senate business, did say Tuesday that he would schedule floor time for the bill later this month. He also said Senate Democrats would consider changes to the president's proposal to offset the cost of his bill with tax increases on wealthier Americans and corporations, both of which some Democrats oppose. CNN

Reid Blocking The President’s Bill Underscores That President Obama Doesn’t Have A Clear Strategy For Passing His Stimulus Bill. Even as Obama spoke, McConnell was attempting to call his bluff by pushing for a quick Senate vote on the jobs bill, which Senate Democrats have acknowledged doesn't have the support to pass. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid objected so he could delay action until Democrats can corral more support. It underscored Obama's dilemma as he travels the country seeking to isolate Republicans to take the blame if his jobs bill doesn't pass -- without a clear strategy for ensuring it does. The Associated Press

• Democrat Opposition Remains Strong To The President’s Bill In The Senate. Senate Democrats are scrambling to rewrite portions of President Barack Obama's jobs bill as they seek elusive party unity ... To pay for his package of tax breaks, unemployment benefits and new spending on public works projects, Obama has proposed higher taxes on family incomes over $250,000 and on the oil and gas industry. The first request troubles Democratic senators from states like New York, New Jersey and California, where large numbers of families could be hit by the increase. The second has drawn opposition most prominently from Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, whose state is home to numerous oil and gas operations. The Associated Press

State Of Play (2): Senate Democrats Admit President Obama’s Bill Won’t Pass As Is, Roll Out Their Own Tax Hike That Has Already Been Rejected By ... Democrats

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin Admits President Obama’s Plan Will Have To Change In Order To Gain Senate Democrat Support. President Obama’s jobs bill will likely need to be changed in order to win enough votes for passage, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday. ... “We’re also going to work on the number of votes to support it,” Durbin said Tuesday in a conference call. “It may not be the exact plan presented by the president.” Durbin said last week that there aren’t enough votes to pass Obama’s American Jobs Act , but said there eventually will be. The Hill

• Reid, Senate Dems Weigh Another Tax Hike That Will “Practically Doom” President Obama’s Bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is eyeing a tax on the nation’s highest earners as a way to defray some of the $447 billion price tag for the White House-written jobs package-a move that would shift attention away from its underlying policies and more towards party politics. Sources on and off Capitol Hill said Reid wants to swap out the bill’s current rack of “pay-fors,” and replace them with a package including a surtax of 5 percent on millionaires. ... Not all Democrats support that proposal, and the outlook for a millionaires surtax is cloudy at best. Yet, Reid and his Democratic allies seem willing to wager the political calculus will tilt their way even if doing so practically dooms Obama’s bill. In 2009, some Senate Democrats balked at a similar tax used by the House wanted to pay for much of the president’s health reform package. The House-written bill included a 5.4 percent surtax on individuals who make $500,000, and couple who top $1 million. Politico

The House Democrats’ Position: Raise Taxes On Working Families and Small Businesses

• MUST WATCH VIDEO - Ways & Means Committee Senior Member Jim McDermott “They could tax people over $250,000 ... There is plenty of places they can take money ...” Watch It HERE

The Road Ahead: President Obama’s Failure To Focus On Growth Oriented Solutions Leads To Fewer Jobs, More Layoffs

Gallup: Job Creation Drops Heading Into The Fall Season. U.S. job creation continues to steadily abate, reversing the upward trend seen since the start of 2010. ... Gallup's real-time measure based on employee reports without seasonal adjustment does suggest different seasonal dynamics this year. The U.S. job creation situation appears to be weakening during the transition from summer into fall, whereas during the past two years, it was steady or improving. Gallup

• Planned Layoffs For September Triple From Last Year. Employers announced 115,730 planned job cuts last month, more than double August's total of 51,114, according to the report from consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The figure was the highest since April 2009 when 132,590 layoffs were announced. September's job cuts were also much higher than the same time a year ago, tripling from the 37,151 job cuts announced in September 2010. For 2011 so far, employers have announced 479,064 cuts, up 16.5 percent from the first nine months of 2010. Reuters

Pro-Growth: House Republicans Focus On Measures To Help Get Americans Back To Work

Chairman Hensarling: President Obama’s Regulatory Onslaught Has Small Business Owners Wondering If The Government Wants Them To Succeed. If the president had the opportunity to listen to the job creators I talk to in my district, he would have heard that our economy doesn’t suffer so much from a lack of capital, but from a lack of confidence. It is a lack of confidence born of our debt crisis, rising taxes and regulatory onslaught. Today the administration has 210 new major regulations pending that would each impose $100 million or more on our economy and have imposed the greatest regulatory burden on our economy in 30 years. As one fed-up small-business owner who recently shuttered his business told me, “I got to the point where I didn’t think my government wanted me to succeed.” House Republicans have numerous bills pending in the Senate that would help to modify the regulatory burden to help create jobs. The Dallas Morning News

• No Society Has Ever Taxed Its Way Into Economic Prosperity. Yet the president’s budget contains $1.5 trillion of new taxes on our economy, much of them falling on the nation’s engine for job creation: small businesses. House Republicans are working to prevent these tax increases and have a plan to make our tax code fairer, flatter, simpler and more competitive in order to create more jobs. I’ve been encouraged by what the president has said on the subject and hope he will work with us to reform the tax code. The Dallas Morning News

ICYMI: Chief Deputy Whip Roskam Op-Ed: Set Capital Gains Rates At 15% Permanently. With near-double-digit national unemployment gripping our country, the White House and Washington should be asking a simple question: What can we do to make America the most competitive environment in the world for job creation? An important first step — with broad support from America's business community — would be to remove uncertainty and make permanent the 15% rate on capital gains and dividends. Faced with the threat of a dramatic tax increase in 2013, American businesses, investors and families are hamstrung by uncertainty when making consequential investment and financial decisions. The threat alone of large tax hikes on capital gains and dividends is damaging. But a guaranteed new 3.8% tax from the health care law starting in 2013 coupled with the potential sunsetting of the income tax rates of the last decade would mean effectively a 58% higher tax rate on cap gains and as much as a 189% higher tax rate on dividend income. That would be devastating and have a far-reaching economic impact. As President Obama rightly insisted in August 2009, "you don't raise taxes in a recession." Investor’s Business Daily

Keeping Tabs

Strong Opposition: More Americans “Strongly Disapprove” To President Obama’s Policies, How President Obama Is Serving As President. Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling job as president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term. ... While the topline numbers are troubling enough, dig deeper into them and the news gets no better for Obama. Forty-three percent of independents — a group the president spent the better part of the last year courting — strongly disapprove of the job he is doing. Forty seven percent of people 65 years of age and older — reliable voters in any election — strongly disapprove of how he is doing his job. Strong opposition to Obama has grown markedly since the start of the year. The Washington Post

Off The Beaten Path

Jackpot: Ga. Woman Wins $25M Thanks to Clerk Error – Savannah Morning News

Sen. Begich Calls On The Coast Guard To Sink Rat-Infested Illegal Fishing Vessel – The Associated Press

Feel Good Moment: Sometimes A Seal Pup Just Wants To Cuddle