Obama Sells Election Year Agenda: Congress Unlikely to Buy

Shortly after the Dow Jones industrial average briefly topped the 13,000 mark today, President Barack Obama took the stage at the White House to celebrate Friday’s passage of the payroll tax cut extension.

A huddle of ordinary Americans stood behind him as he spoke, and Vice President Joe Biden stood beside him.

“We are here because of you,” the president said to the American people. “You made it clear you wanted to see some commonsense in Washington.”

Without the payroll tax cut, the average American would have lost $40 per paycheck—money they now can use to pay for rising gasoline prices, Obama noted.

In this case, “Congress did the right thing,” he said. “Now my message to Congress is, don’t stop here. Keep going. This may be an election year, but the American people have no patience for gridlock and reflexive partisanship. There’s a lot more we can do, and there’s plenty of time to do it.”

That clarion call seemed to defy the conventional wisdom—that the president is finished working with Congress until after the November election, now that the payroll tax cut extension has passed.

So, what, Mr. President, do you still want Congress to do?

Pass a highway bill? It’s struggling as lawmakers dither over how to pay for it without increasing gasoline taxes—something that would be political suicide when prices at the pump already are going up. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is trying to push Congress to act on the bill by hosting events in 12 cities during this week’s congressional break and running ads in eight states. Are you going to join them in this effort? It’d be a nice way to build bridges with the business community, not to mention roads and mass transit.

No, Obama didn’t mention the highway bill today.

How about extending tax breaks for businesses, such as the research and development tax credit, that have expired or are about to expire? Uncertainty over the future of these tax breaks, including ones for the president’s beloved renewable-energy industry, are hindering investment.

No, the president didn’t mention those either.

How about getting the Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass crowdfunding legislation, which would make it easier for early-stage businesses to raise capital? Or convincing Congress to pass the Startup Act, which would ease Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements on small public companies and take other steps to help new businesses grow?

No, he didn’t mention that legislation either.

So what did the president ask Congress to do? Pass bills that he knows aren’t going anywhere because they involve tax increases. He wants Congress to pass his plan to help more homeowners refinance their mortgages, which would require a new tax on big banks. He called on Congress to make his so-called Buffett Rule a reality—meaning anyone who makes more than $1 million a year should pay an income tax rate of at least 30 percent. And he called on Congress to raise income tax rates for people making more than $250,000, while ensuring that folks who make less than that aren’t hit with a tax hike when January 1 rolls around.

“These are things we can do today,” Obama said.

It’s all part of his campaign theme of building an economy in which everybody has a fair shot and everyone shares responsibility.

And that’s what today’s speech was: a campaign address, not a president outlining a legislative agenda.

The big decisions—what to do with income tax rates and how to avoid across-the-board budget cuts that could decimate the Defense Department—won’t be made until after the election.

Plus, Congress once again will have to vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling. Obama thought last summer’s deal, which narrowly avoided the U.S. going into default on its debt, put off that contentious debate until after the election. But his payroll tax cut victory may push up the day of reckoning on the debt ceiling until sometime before November 6. That’s because the bill will add $100 billion to the national debt.

The Treasury Department will do everything it can to push the need for a debt-ceiling increase beyond Election Day. If it can’t, however, Obama may need Congress’ help after all this campaign season.

God, have mercy on us all.

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.