Obama Expected to Push For $300 Billion Jobs Package

Tomorrow's speech will also address tax cuts

In President Obama's jobs speech tomorrow night, he is expected to propose a $300 billion jobs package relying mainly on tax cuts, infrastructure spending and direct aid to state and local governments, according to Bloomberg News.

Obama has pressed Congress throughout the year to renew the payroll tax holiday along with extended unemployment benefits, which also expire Dec. 31. Backing for a reduction in the employer contribution to the payroll tax has been under consideration since at least June.

Obama’s jobs plan follows the contours of his $830 billion 2009 economic stimulus package, which also stressed tax cuts, infrastructure spending and assistance to local governments. Still, tax cuts would account for a larger portion of the proposal he will lay out this week.

White House press secretary Jay Carney refused to give details of what the president will offer, saying at a briefing yesterday that it would include “some new proposals that you have not heard us talk about.”

If last week's scheduling snafu wasn't enough of an issue, Obama's proposal is expected to meet resistance from Republicans. Yesterday, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia wrote Obama a letter stating their objections to the 2009 stimulus, which they called a “large, deficit-financed, government spending bill,”  saying they have been vindicated by rising unemployment.