Obama overruled the Environmental Protection Agency – and the unanimous opinion of its independent panel of scientific advisers – and directed administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the proposed regulation to reduce concentrations of ground-level ozone, smog’s main ingredient. The decision rests in part on reducing regulatory burdens and uncertainty for businesses at a time of rampant uncertainty about an unsteady economy.

Ozone contributes to smog which is associated with respiratory and other health problems and the strengthened regulations were expected to save billions in health care costs.

The Sierra Club said that it will continue to push the Obama administration to tighten smog rules.

“By putting the interest of coal and oil polluters first, the White House seems to be saying that ‘clean air will have to wait,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement. “Half of U.S. families live in places where it is literally unsafe to breathe the air, and kicking the inhaler down the road will do nothing to protect our children.”

James M. Taylor, senior fellow for environmental policy at the free market Heartland Institute called on Obama to continue undoing environmental rules:

“While President Obama’s announcement that he is withdrawing EPA’s draft ozone standards is a welcome development, EPA continues down the path of economic destruction by imposing costly carbon dioxide restrictions in the name of fighting speculative global warming. If the president is serious about relieving EPA’s oppressive burden on America’s economy, he will call off the dogs regarding EPA’s carbon dioxide restrictions, as well.”

According to government figures, zero net jobs were created in the U.S. last month — a situation that last happened in September 2010. This leaves the national unemployment rate steady at 9.1 percent.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to unveil measures aimed at bolstering growth in an address to Congress next Thursday, but the 2012 GOP candidates hammered the news peg with statements in advance.

Former governor of Utah and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman:

Two days after I offered a plan with serious solutions that would create jobs and get our economy going, we learn of yet another month with zero job growth. There is no clearer sign that the President has failed and the theatrics around his far-too-late jobs speech demonstrate that he has no real plan to change course. In a country with 307 million people, zero job growth is unfathomable. It’s time for America to compete again and it’s time for a new President.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney:

Today’s disappointing unemployment report is further proof that President Obama has failed. President Obama oversaw an economy that created zero jobs last month and that is unacceptable. In order to change the direction of this country, we need to change presidents. Americans need a conservative businessman to get this economy moving again, not career politicians. That is why I am running. Next week, I will lay out my specific plan to put America back to work.

Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum:

This morning’s jobs report is another sad sign that President Obama’s economic policies would need to improve dramatically to even be described as incompetent. For three years, in speech after speech, the President has claimed to be focused on the American worker, but month after month and report after report shows the opposite. So either, the President’s economic policies are killing this economy or his lack of leadership – either way, President Obama is to blame. Employers need certainty and freedom to expand and that what my jobs plan would do.

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann:

Mr. President – we gave you $2.4 trillion in new spending and the American people got nothing in return. Today’s jobs report showing that the economy created no jobs in the last month and unemployment at 9.1 percent is further evidence that President Obama’s failed economic policies are not working and have completely stalled job growth. After spending three days last month on a bus tour focusing on jobs – today’s economic report shows that the nation’s economy is sitting at a huge stop sign. Before his vacation, the President gave us a speech about a jobs speech; the American people don’t need speeches, they need jobs.

It’s time for a comprehensive restructuring of how Washington spends taxpayers’ dollars by controlling spending and encouraging pro-growth economic policies. Mr. President – it’s time to stop digging our country further into debt – it’s time to build a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth to restore certainty for the American people and the markets.

U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter:

This latest jobs report again proves that, unlike President Obama and the GOP candidates who are unable or unwilling to understand the central problem in our economy, my economic growth plan is the one that will end this period of debt-deflation and stagnation by fundamentally restructuring Big Government into Citizen-government and recapitalizing the failed Wall Street Bailout Banks through free market forces.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson:

With today’s jobs report, the worst in a year, one has to wonder what it will take to make the President and Congress admit that they are doing all the wrong things. Government does not create jobs, it kills jobs. Yet, the White House says the answer is to pass a highway bill so they can ‘stimulate’ construction jobs. Washington has stimulated us to death, and it has to stop. Provide certainty for employers, stop the insane spending, and reform the tax code. Do those things, and the private sector will do the job creation. We have let the myth of government jobs programs go too far, and America is suffering as a result. We don’t need more prime time speeches — we need government to just get out of the way.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry:

President Obama’s job-killing polices continue to wreak havoc on the American economy. The poor national jobs picture stands in stark contrast to Texas’ pro-jobs, limited government policies which helped make us the top job-producing state in the nation. Our country cannot afford four more years of economic misery, and I will continue to travel the county talking about ways to get American working again.

Atlanta businessman Herman Cain:

We learned today that not a single job was created during the month of August in the United States of America. In the land of endless opportunity and abundant freedom, the very promise that has inspired generations of industrious and innovative people seems to be dwindling away.

After trillions in government spending and empty promises, 14 million American workers are unemployed, with millions more underemployed. These are people, not statistics. They are families struggling to put food on the table, send their kids to school and keep the lights on. They are our family members, friends and neighbors.

Sadly, the fact that zero jobs were created last month is only fitting for this administration, which is led by a President with zero leadership, zero plans, zero results and zero understanding of basic economics. And the American people are worse off because of it.

Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton on behalf of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul:

The August national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent is another unfortunate chapter in the Obama administration’s almost superhuman mishandling of the economy. Total nonfarm employment was unchanged, with zero jobs created. The number of involuntary part-time workers is up, and the number of those marginally attached to the workforce is up.

Six million workers, 42.9 percent of total unemployed persons, have been jobless 27 weeks or longer – a frightening proposition considering that mortgage, rent, food and back-to-school bills may go unpaid. The most recent four-week moving average of new unemployment claims, favored for being a less volatile indicator of our jobs picture, is a frowning 410,250 – also cause for dismay.

Indeed, much more than these data hangs in the balance. Americans are enduring painful long-term joblessness. They’re witnessing their savings disappear due to lost income. They’re seeing their personal debt rise due to lost income. And they gaze despairingly upon their retirement plans as these arrangements are tabled or upended entirely.

We’ve been told our economic situation would get worse before it gets better, yet circumstances have remained near to their utmost worst for nearly three years.

We’ve been told that help was on the way, yet taxpayer-derived aid was granted to pet causes and favored political allies. Too often, bailouts were targeted to the President’s corporate and financial sector allies, a policy similar to that of tossing life preservers to those partying on yachts.

Americans have had enough.

It’s high time that the President and his Washington establishment allies – those in both parties – ‘man up’ and face the responsibility to enact authentic change.

First, America must put an end to the unconstitutional, undeclared wars that are nothing more than destructive conflicts having an unclear connection to U.S. national security. And we should stop putting our war-weary armed services men and women in danger by being the world’s police force and dispense with state building while there are pressing needs at home.

“Ron Paul has called for an authentic stimulus that communities across America will find economically and affectionately stimulating: the return to America of 305,000 of their sons, daughters, husbands and wives who are deployed overseas.

Dr. Paul says time and again that these men and women’s absence from the U.S., their deployments by international organizations such as N.A.T.O. and the United Nations, and their involvement in unconstitutional, undeclared wars puts America at risk.

America’s heroes should finally return, reunite with their loved ones in the vicinity of U.S. bases – many of which face closure, as foreign bases thrive – and they can spend, save or invest their pay right here in America.

A return to the U.S. of service men and women and their equipment just months ago would mean that Vermont would have possessed the needed Blackhawk helicopters and personnel to adequately respond to Hurricane Irene’s destruction. Instead, Vermont was required to borrow helicopters from Illinois and New Hampshire.

In the wake of Hurricane Irene, there’s a national conversation about the constitutionality, efficacy and efficiency of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) happening. Yet, none of Ron Paul’s Republican primary competitors have raised the issue that, since the U.S. reportedly spends more than $500 billion on overseas adventures, just seven days’ worth of U.S global militarism would pay for Hurricane Irene response.

Second, President Obama and his Washington enablers of both parties must end the appalling practice of overspending and borrowing. American households are becoming poorer as the economic doldrums continue, however Washington enjoys a kind of golden age as it grows and promotes its relevance in every facet of life.

The Obama administration offers empty promises on a jobs fix despite the economic reality that government does not create jobs, and in lockstep those in government garner little criticism as few in the media hold Washingtonians’ feet to the fire. This selective examination of the facts, too, must end.

Third, the U.S. must avoid the disastrous boom and bust cycles that promote irresponsible spending, investing, borrowing and lending and this can only be done by returning to a sound money system.

The Federal Reserve should undergo a complete and thorough audit, and currency competition should be introduced by decriminalizing the use of gold and silver as legal tender. The final aim would be to end the Fed, which rewards the wealthy few while punishing and injuring working class Americans.

The numbers and anecdotal evidence of a failed jobs picture speak for themselves. They are a glaring argument for abandoning the failed Big Government, discredited Keynesian response to the national crisis all but those in Washington are experiencing.

We do not need another speech or prime-time lecture for that matter to tell us what we know: Washington has failed and it is time for new leadership.

Ron Paul has championed the same constitutionally-limited government, noninterventionist foreign policy and sound money arguments for more than 30 years.

Dr. Paul wisely predicted the economic crisis and foresaw that it would fall hardest on the hardworking and most vulnerable. The issues now match the candidate, which is why his message is resonating with more voters as the primary campaign cycle advances.

With federal lawmakers on recess and unlikely to reauthorize No Child Left Behind (NCLB) — the current reiteration of the decades-old Early and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) — the White House has announced it will grant states waivers next year to avoid the punitive sting of schools not meeting performance measures identified by the 2002 law.

In June, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters over 80 percent of schools nationally will be deemed “failing” according to the accountability metrics established by NCLB, signed by then-president George W. Bush and backed by a bipartisan Congress. So far, state Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) reports have not shown that high a percentage of schools falling behind, but a handful of states are posting numbers that show more than half of the schools are not up to snuff.

Previously, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle voiced concern that the White House moving by executive order, rather than allowing Congress to hash out a reauthorization of the law, preempts the job of the legislative branch. Some Democrats, however, have softened their stance. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chair of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said in a press release:

“We continue to have productive bipartisan conversations in the Senate and I remain hopeful that we can move a reauthorization bill through the HELP Committee soon. That said, it is undeniable that this Congress faces real challenges reaching bipartisan, bicameral agreement on anything. Given the ill-advised and partisan bills that the House majority has chosen to move, I understand Secretary Duncan’s decision to proceed with a waiver package to provide some interim relief while Congress finishes its work.  In spite of the difficult environment here in Congress, I remain committed to working in a bipartisan fashion to pass a comprehensive bill that will provide all our students and schools with a better education system, rather than just those in a select few states.”

Justine Sessions, a spokesperson for Harkin, told The American Independent the upper body of Congress met ten times last year to reauthorize NCLB and has been in conversations for months to institute new tweaks to the law. A reauthorization of ESEA was supposed to happen in 2007.

In a June interview NPR did with Duncan, the president’s education point-man tried to downplay the significance of his office moving ahead with waivers:

CONAN (Neil Conan of NPR’s Talk of the Nation): You have to work with both houses in Congress as well. There’s a Republican charge on the House side. Of course, the Democrat Tom Harkin charge on the Senate side. Neither have been particularly thrilled with the idea of these waivers.

DUNCAN: That’s OK. We’ll continue to work together. And, Neal, I think – you understood, I’m the least political guy you’re ever going to meet. I have no interest in politics. I simply want to give children a chance to get a great education, and I’ll work with everybody: Republicans, Democrats, doesn’t matter, House, Senate. I have great relationships with Chairman Klein (sic) in the House, great relationships with Chairman Harkin in the Senate.

Education Week reports some of the relief may take a while to go into effect:

This means states could, also this school year, reset the bar for what makes for acceptable growth on test scores. Schools and districts may not feel the effects of the regulatory relief, however, until the 2012-13 school year, when things like tutoring and school choice might be waived.

NCLB uses the Annual Yearly Progress measure to determine the success of a school. Under NCLB, by 2014, nearly every school in the country is expected to have 100 percent of its students proficient according to state-administered tests used to fulfill NCLB regulations.

The law has quickly become unpopular, particularly among teachers and sympathetic groups. At the heart of the grievances voiced by groups like Save Our Schools is the diluting of traditional forms of education in favor of a one-size-fits-all legislative makeover they contend has not improved student proficiency in core subjects, nor have they led to increased graduation rates.

Recently, that rebuke gained new credibility with a May report from the National Academies of Science that concluded [PDF] “[i]ncentives will often lead people to find ways to increase measured performance that do not also improve the desired outcomes. As a result, different performance measures—that are not being used in the incentive system—should be used when evaluating how the incentives are working.”

Addressing the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference, President Barack Obama argued that there was little he could do on crucial issues such as immigration reform and lowering unemployment without the support of congressional Republicans.

Obama also defended his record on Hispanic-related issues, in particular on increasing access to a college education and on appointments. The appointments of U.S. Dept. of Labor Sec. Hilda Solis (the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Cabinet) and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor were both referenced multiple times in Obama’s speech.

Calling immigrants “job creators who came here to seek opportunity and now seek to share opportunity,” Obama argued that the current U.S. immigration system tolerates those who break the rules — undocumented immigrants and businesses that employ them — while punishing legal immigrants.

He defended himself on what Hispanic leaders say is a broken campaign pledge, “La Promesa,” to get comprehensive immigration reform on the congressional agenda. Obama said he supported the DREAM Act — a bill providing a path to citizenship to undocumented youth provided they go to college or serve in the military — and was disappointed when Senate Republicans voted against it in 2010.

“Many of the folks who walked away had previously been sponsors [of the DREAM Act],” Obama pointed out, referring to Republican U.S. senators like Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Richard Lugar (Ind.) who worked with Democrats on immigration legislation in the past but now refuse to support legalization efforts because they say immigration has been politicized by the White House.

However, when Obama stated that he could not use the power of the executive branch alone to prevent people who qualify for the DREAM Act from being deported, the crowd broke into loud cries of “Yes you can! Yes you can.” Many have taken a recent memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement director John Morton urging prosecutorial discretion on immigration cases to be a sign that the administration was seeking immigration reform without going through Congress.

But Obama appeared to reject executive-driven immigration reform, telling the chanting conference attendees that he had to follow the laws as written by Congress.

“Feel free to keep the heat on me, and keep the heat on Democrats, but here’s the thing to remember: The Democrats and your president are with you. Remember who it is that we need to move in order to change the laws,” he said.

Earlier in the speech Obama also said he supported putting laid-off construction workers to work building infrastructure and schools, adding that the burden was on Congress to produce such legislation so that he could sign it. He also spent a portion of the speech discussing ongoing deficit talks, restating his belief that new revenue should accompany meaningful spending cuts.

Just a day after President Obama’s speech at the U.S./Mexico border on immigration reform, Sen. Jeff Bingaman helped introduce legislation that would provide college students who entered the country before the age of 15 with a path to citizenship.

“I do not believe children should be punished for their parents’ actions,” Bingaman said in a statement. “It doesn’t make sense to deny children who grew up in our country an opportunity to earn a college degree, join the military and to contribute to our economy as productive members of society.”

Bingaman joined Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and 29 other senators in sponsoring the legislation.

To qualify for the DREAM Act, the immigrant must have come to the United States under the age of 15, graduate from high school or earn a GED, complete two years of college or military service and have good moral character to legalize their immigration status.

In a speech on immigration in El Paso Tuesday, Obama called for the DREAM Act to be passed.

“We should stop punishing innocent young people for the actions of their parents,” Obama said. “We should stop denying them the chance to earn an education or serve in the military. And that’s why we need to pass the DREAM Act.”

President Barack Obama called for immigration reform, including a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, in a speech in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday. It was Obama’s first trip to the border as president.

Obama said the lack of progress on immigration reform occurred despite work from people on both sides of the aisle.

“We’ve seen leaders of both parties who try to work on this issue, but then their efforts fell prey to the usual Washington games,” Obama said. “And all the while, we’ve seen the mounting consequences of decades of inaction.”

Obama said that Republicans have been looking to “move the goal posts” on securing the border.

“They wanted a fence,” Obama said. “Well the fence is now basically complete.”

“We’re here at the border because we also recognize that being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants,” Obama said in his address at Chamizal National Memorial in El Paso.

Rep. Steve Pearce, the lone Republican in the New Mexico delegation, said before Obama’s speech that the president should have met with constituents in border communities in New Mexico.

“We cannot possibly address immigration without first facing our border security problems,” Pearce said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that the President missed an opportunity to hear from my constituents about the need for serious measures.”

Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat, said that he supported former President George W. Bush’s call for immigration reform and praised Obama for bringing it up again.

“Comprehensive immigration legislation is necessary to fix our broken borders and advance the educational and economic progress of the country,” Udall said in a statement. “I hope that the president’s speech is just the beginning of a bipartisan effort to pass real reform.”

Sen. Jeff Bingaman also called for immigration reform.

“Obviously, we must make security a centerpiece of comprehensive immigration reform,” Bingaman said. “But I do believe Congress needs to finally find a way to create a more thoughtful immigration system that works for our economy.”

After being “encouraged” by Obama’s speech, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights called for Obama to change its focus “on a costly, enforcement-only model.”

“Our national security, while critical, should never come at the expense of civil and human rights,” said Vicki Gaubeca, director of the ACLU-NM Regional Center for Border Rights. “At the very least, we need more transparency, accountability and oversight to prevent the border region from becoming a Constitution-free zone.”

Any sort of immigration reform seems unlikely over the next two years. The House of Representatives is controlled by a Republican majority, while the Senate has a Democratic majority. The two chambers have been unable to agree on a number of high-profile issues.

Watch the speech:

Rep. Martin Heinrich sent a letter to President Barack Obama Thursday asking him to being a troop withdrawal in July of this year. “We have a responsibility to leave Afghanistan in a responsible way,” Heinrich wrote, “and I believe it is time to begin this progress.”

Heinrich called on Obama to “follow through on the pledge we made to the American people to begin the drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan this summer.”

There are currently 100,000 American troops stationed in Afghanistan.

Heinrich cited the cost and length of the war in Afghanistan in his letter:

We have spent over $450 billion in Afghanistan since the start of this war. Our youngest soldiers were just eight years old when our nation was attacked on September 11, 2001. It is time we start bringing our troops home.

He also mentioned that he visited Kandahar City in May of 2010 and saw “firsthand that progress is being made.”

Obama said earlier this month that the drawdown this summer “will be significant” and “is not not just a token gesture.”

He said he would have to speak with Gen. David Petraeus before discussing any specific numbers.

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Obama administration had not yet decided how many troops will come home in July.

Letter to President Obama re Afghanistan 04 25 2011

Republican senatorial candidate Heather Wilson has taken the Americans for Tax Reform pledge against any tax raises, her campaign announced Monday. Wilson, a former U.S. representative, is the first top-tier Republican candidate to enter the Senate race.

“We don’t have a revenue problem in the federal government; we have a spending problem,” Wilson said. “Government cannot create wealth, but it can create the conditions for small businesses and entrepreneurs to invest and create jobs. That means low taxes and fair regulations.”

The pledge says that Wilson will “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses … and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

Currently, 41 senators have signed the pledge.

President Barack Obama has pledged not to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for those who make over $250,000 per year.

Congressman Steve Pearce issued a statement Friday blaming the Senate for failing to provide for paying the troops during a likely government shutdown.

“It is unacceptable that Senate Democrats are using our military as political pawns,” Pearce, an Air Force veteran, said. “Yesterday, the House passed a strong bill, which I supported, to provide funding for our men and women in the armed forces, as well as the Department of Defense, through the end of the fiscal year.”

The bill that Pearce is referencing was a continuing resolution that would have continued to fund the government for another week and fund the Department of Defense for an entire year. The bill would cut federal spending by $12 billion in one week.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today that spending negotiations between himself, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and President Barack Obama were settled on cutting $38 billion from current spending, but a sticking point was federal funding for family planning and health services for women provided by Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers.

There is currently a proposal in the House to fund military salaries during any government shutdown. Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is sponsoring the bills and earlier today he responded to questions from Dave Weigel about the status of that bill.

Gohmert replied:

I relayed to the Speaker and all of the conference that I had just spoken to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison concerning the companion bill in the Senate. She has stated there are 70 Senators ready to vote for the bill immediately in order to ensure our military is paid on time.However, a bill like this is normally required to pass the House first. The Speaker is very sensitive to that fact and is considering bringing it to the floor today if an agreement to fund the entire military budget for the year is not reached soon. The pressure is fortunately mounting now on both sides to take care of those who are fighting for us.

New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, both Democrats, support similar legislation in the Senate.

Yesterday, Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., criticized Republicans for using Department of Defense funding and funding for the troops “as a bargaining chip.”

“For forty-eight days, the Senate has failed to respond to the long-term spending plan proposed by the House,” Pearce said. “Our nation faces a looming debt crisis. The Senate and the President must stop playing games with the futures of our children and with the livelihoods of our soldiers.”

Pearce had earlier voted against a continuing resolution.

“As a former small business owner, I know that you can’t run any organization week-to-week,” Pearce said of the mid-March continuing resolution when explaining his vote against the resolution. “As an American, I know legislation is needed that takes seriously the looming debt crisis, and the economic problems faced in homes across the country.”

New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, both Democrats, said today that they want members of the military to continue to be paid in the event of an increasingly likely shutdown of the federal government.

The bill, the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011, has bipartisan support in the Senate and would make funds available for paying members of the military throughout the duration of a government shutdown.

Both Udall and Bingaman made it clear they wished to avoid a government shutdown, but also said that this legislation would be a contingency to help military personnel be paid despite many federal government functions being shut down.

Here is the full statement by Udall:

“A government shutdown would hurt hardworking New Mexicans and jeopardize our economy’s fragile recovery. That’s why I’m urging my Senate colleagues to put aside partisan politics and make a deal before tomorrow’s deadline. But in the unfortunate event that the government is forced to shut down, our men and women in uniform – who put their lives on the line every day for our country – should not have to worry about whether they’re going to be able to provide for their families. With this legislation, we help give military men and women the assurance that they’ll be able to pay the bills during this uncertain time.”

And the full statement by Bingaman:

“A government shutdown would be disruptive to Americans and potentially harm our economy. But it also would hurt the pocketbooks of many families employed by the federal government. This proposal would ensure that the men and women protecting our country and its interests would not be financially punished by a potential shutdown.”

A release by the senators’ offices said that it isn’t clear how the government shutdown would affect military personnel, “but a draft planning memo did mention that all military personnel would be required to show up to work, regardless of whether they would be paid during the shutdown.” (Military Times reported that a copy of draft guidance it obtained said troops would have to show up for work but wouldn’t be paid until funding is restored.)

The latest from negotiations between President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Harry Reid, D-Nev., is that progress has been made but there has been no deal to avoid a government shutdown.