Democrats Struggle to Deliver President Obama's "Jobs Agenda"

Julyl 28, 2010 -- President Obama today will head to a Tastee sub shop in New Jersey to sell his jobs agenda to small business owners, but a bill specifically for that purpose has been stymied in the Senate for the last month.

With the country's unemployment rate hovering near 10 percent and its economic recovery "unusually uncertain" as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke put it, one of the most obvious moves to boost job creation would be to help the small businesses that account for around two-thirds of new job growth.

But for the past month the Senate has yet to pass the bill that emerged in June from the House of Representatives, setting it aside time and time again.

"I hope that in the coming days we'll once again find common ground and get this legislation passed," President Obama said Tuesday at the White House. "We shouldn't let America's small businesses be held hostage to partisan politics – and certainly not at this critical time."

This afternoonin New Jersety, the President will again urge the Senate to act. Back in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he hopes the Senate can finish work on the bill by late today.

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The bill would establish a $30 billion small business lending facility run by the Treasury Department and provide another $12 billion in tax relief. Smaller banks – those with under $10 billion in assets – would use the Treasury fund to extend loans to small businesses, helping get tthem back on their feet and hiring new workers.

However, the small business measure has gotten stuck in the Senate, stymied by partisan gridlock and a focus on more high-profile legislation such as Wall Street reform.

Republicans have denounced the small business lending facility as a "mini-TARP," referring to the government's $700-billion financial-system bailout program. Democrats have elected to work on other bills, including the financial regulatory overhaul, unemployment benefits, and campaign finance reform.

In typical Beltway politics, both parties have blamed one another for the lack of action on the small business front.