What we are watching:

Jobs bill anytime soon? The Senate Democrats had promised a jobs bill today and obviously due to the weather that will not happen. But an inability to reach a consensus within their own ranks may be the real reason the Democrats miss a self imposed deadline. Disunity is a reoccurring theme for Democrats that threatens to stall Harry Reid’s number one legislative priority.  

In the news:

Democrats meet cold reality at DNC meeting. After defeats in VA, NJ and MA it seems that Democrats may finally be realizing that voters aren’t happy with their empty promises and binge spending agenda.

Writing’s on the wall, but Obama remains defiant. Democrats at the DNC winter meeting looked for ways to stay upbeat in the face of legislative and electoral defeat as the President promised to forge ahead with the same  agenda items that brought them to this point in the first place.

Division begins at home. As party leader, the President addressed the DNC this past weekend, urging bipartisanship while trying to lift the party’s spirits. But the divisions are most glaring among the Democrats themselves. “Even as Obama urged bipartisanship, Democrats remain divided about the best way to move their stalled agenda, which includes health-care legislation, a cap-and-trade bill aimed at making clean energy economically viable, and a measure to tighten regulation of the nation's financial system,” writes the Washington Post.

Obama  and the finger-wagging. Politico notes that the President feels free to lecture the public on everything from nutrition, to sports to policy, and some Democrats are growing weary of it.

RNC Research Briefing:

Less Jobs, More Chaos

As Job Losses Mount After Failed $862 Billion Stimulus, Dems In Disarray Over Stimulus II

WITH MORE JOB LOSS ONE YEAR AFTER DEMS PASSED $862 BILLION STIMULUS, DEMOCRATS “ALL OVER THE MAP” ON SHAPE AND SIZE OF STIMULUS II

Since Obama Signed His $862 Billion Stimulus In February 2009, America Has Lost 2.8 Million Jobs. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/8/10)

• Including 20,000 Jobs Lost Last Month. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 2/8/10)

“Democratic Proposals Have Been All Over The Map, Ranging From Small-Business-Hiring Tax Credits To Using Billions In Leftover Money From The Wall Street Bailout To Pay For Jobs Programs And Infrastructure Spending.” (Meredith Shiner, “Democrats Coy About Jobs Bill Costs,” Politico, 2/4/10)

Democrats “Far From Consensus” On How Stimulus II Will Be Funded, What Final Bill “Will Look Like.” “The Democrats’ refusal to answer about specifics of the legislation’s funding — Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said repeatedly that those questions will be sorted out by  Montana Sen. Max Baucus and the Finance Committee he chairs — underscores the pressure they feel to move on the new top priority. Yet it also shows Democrats are far from consensus within their own caucus on exactly what a jobs package will look like.” (Meredith Shiner, “Democrats Coy About Jobs Bill Costs,” Politico, 2/4/10)

• Dems Even Still Differ On Size Of Stimulus II.  “Dorgan and Durbin have advocated an $82 billion plan. According to memos circulated about the plan, $75 billion would be paid for by the banks that are returning funds they received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program … Baucus advocated a more scaled-back plan, and the emerging bill — which is expected to include provisions outside the Finance Committee’s jurisdiction — now will carry a price tag far less than $80 billion, several sources said Friday.” (Manu Raju & Meredith Shiner, “Democrats Squabble Over Jobs Bill,” Politico, 2/1/10)

Sens. Max Baucus And Chuck Schumer Led Coup, Took Bill Away From Sens. Byron Dorgan And Dick Durbin. “Baucus and Schumer wrested the lead on the package from Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who were originally tasked by Reid late last summer to craft a jobs bill. Dorgan and Durbin spent months gathering 121 policy proposals grouped in broad categories like small-business job creation, green technology, infrastructure development and the protection of public sector jobs.” (Lisa Lerer & Manu Raju, “Dems Race To Meet Jobs Bill Deadline,” Politico, 2/5/10)

But Dorgan Is Digging In, Saying “This Jobs Agenda Is Not Going To End Monday.” “Dorgan said he still plans to push for other pieces of his proposal… ‘This jobs agenda is not going to end Monday,’ said Dorgan.” (Lisa Lerer and Manu Raju, “Dems Race To Meet Jobs Bill Deadline,” Politico, 2/5/10)

Senators Growing “Frustrated” As “No Consensus [Has Been] Reached.” “In the meeting, two attendees later said, Durbin seemed skeptical about going Baucus’s route, questioning why money for states, firefighters and police should be left out of the first package… No consensus was reached, and Reid told the senators — some of whom were clearly frustrated — to think it over and come up with a revised strategy, sources later said.” (Manu Raju & Meredith Shiner, “Democrats Squabble Over Jobs Bill,” Politico, 2/1/10)

GIVEN UPCOMING ELECTION, SOME DEMS CONCERNED ABOUT PRICE OF STIMULUS II

Nervous Dems Worried About Passing Stimulus II Bill “Heavy In Spending” After Losing Massachusetts Special Election. “A draft circulated last week put a price tag at roughly $80 billion… But after the Republicans won the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat — and lost their 60th vote — Democratic strategists urged leadership to avoid producing a bill that could be seen as heavy on spending… ‘There was a second thought given to whether a package heavy in spending that could easily be branded as a second stimulus was the right thing to do,’ said a Democratic aide.” (Lisa Lerer & Manu Raju, “Dems Race To Meet Jobs Bill Deadline,” Politico, 2/5/10)

Jake Thompson, Spokesman For Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE): “Senator Nelson Is Very Concerned About The Level Of Federal Spending And The Deficit… He Would Look At A Jobs Package, But Those Factors Would Weigh Heavily In His Mind.” (Andrew Taylor, “Senate Prospects Weak On Bill To Fight Job Crisis,” The Associated Press, 1/19/10)

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN): “It’s Hard To Answer In A Vacuum Without Knowing What’s In It, But If It’s Just A Wish-List Of Spenders’ Favorite Items, That’s Not Going To Go Through…” (Andrew Taylor, “Senate Prospects Weak On Bill To Fight Job Crisis,” The Associated Press, 1/19/10)

DEMS NOT HAPPY WITH OBAMA’S “JIMMY CARTER THROWBACK” TAX CREDITS

Obama: “Today, I’m Proposing What I Believe Is The Best Way To Cut Taxes While Promoting Hiring By Small Businesses:  Through A Tax Credit For Companies That Add Workers Or Increase Salaries This Year.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President On A Jobs Tax Credit, Baltimore, MD, 1/29/10)

• Economist David Rosenberg Says Obama’s Jobs Plan Out Of “Jimmy Carter’s Economic Playbook.” “As for this new job-focused fiscal plan out of Washington, there’s really nothing quite like using the quick fixes from Jimmy Carter’s economic playbook in the late 1970s -- after all, they worked so well. We have a record of over 6 million Americans who have been unemployed and looking for work without success for at least six months and another 9 million working part-time because they have no choice, and over 6 folks who are jobless competing for every job opening out there and somehow a $33 billion tax credit is the solution to the jobs crisis.” (David Rosenberg, “Breakfast With Dave,” Gluskin Sheff, 2/1/10)

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA): “Convince Me That Your Balance Of Putting Money On The Side Of Hopeful Small-Business Job Creation [Will Work], Because If People Don’t Have Money, They Don’t Go To Small Businesses To Buy From Them.” (Peter Cohn, “New Jobs Credit Gets Cool Response,” Congress Daily, 2/3/10)

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) Said The Tax Credit “Is A Stinker” That “Distorts The Market.” “‘The general consensus among tax experts is that the credit is a stinker because it simply encourages people to do what they would have done anyway,’ he said. Doggett added that it ‘distorts the market’ by providing no new benefit to firms that have kept their workers on despite great financial pressures, adding that CBO has said this provision will be the ‘least-felt where there’s greatest need.’” (Peter Cohn, “New Jobs Credit Gets Cool Response,” Congress Daily, 2/3/10)

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) Said Businesses Hire Because They Have Work, Not Because They’ll Get A Tax Credit. “‘I don’t know anybody in business who hires an employee because they’re going to get a tax credit. They hire an employee because they have work to do.’ He added, ‘At the same time, this budget cuts the Army Corps of Engineers,’ citing it as an example of neglected infrastructure investment.” (Peter Cohn, “New Jobs Credit Gets Cool Response,” Congress Daily, 2/3/10)

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) Said The Credit Would Be “About The Fiscal Headroom That Would Be Actually Necessary To Fund A Transportation Bill.” “Another Democrat, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, said the cost set-aside for business tax breaks in the budget, such as the new-hires credit, would provide ‘about the fiscal headroom that would be actually necessary to fund a transportation bill.’ Blumenauer is among those Democrats lobbying for a robust multiyear surface transportation reauthorization bill, which would require additional revenues that the White House has been reluctant to propose.” (Peter Cohn, “New Jobs Credit Gets Cool Response,” Congress Daily, 2/3/10)

Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) Said The Credit Would Be An Example Of History Repeating Itself. “Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., got into the act as well, saying that a similar hiring credit enacted in the 1970s basically fell flat. ‘I guess this fits into the category of “We don’t do anything new around here except the history we repeat,”‘ he said.” (Peter Cohn, “New Jobs Credit Gets Cool Response,” Congress Daily, 2/3/10)

AND HOUSE DEMS NOT HAPPY ABOUT SENATE PLAN TO PASS STIMULUS II PIECEMEAL

House Dems Upset About Senate Breaking Jobs Bill Into Smaller Pieces. “Despite the nascent bipartisanship in the Senate, the jobs bill faces a difficult path. House Democrats openly disdain the Senate’s approach of splitting the jobs package into a series of smaller bills, a move designed to avoid the resistance a larger measure would attract. The House would need to find a way to reconcile any Senate bill with the broader $154 billion jobs legislation it approved late last year.” (Naftali Bendavid and Gregg Hitt, “Senators Spar Over Jobs Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/5/10)

Rep. John Larson (D-CT): “We Just Think The Senate Ought To Step Up To The Plate And Do Something For The American People And Create A Real Jobs Bill.”  (Naftali Bendavid & Gregg Hitt, “Senators Spar Over Jobs Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/5/10)