Obama unveils jobs plan. Will it work?

Last Thursday, President Obama addressed Congress and the nation with his plan to drive down the unemployment rate, which has been hovering at around 9 percent since the peak of the recession.

The proposed jobs bill offers few surprises — tax cuts, investment in new roads and schools, yada yada yada.

The real question is, will it work?

Maybe. The plan has a few things going for it, including a wide range of ideas that should be supported by both parties. If the Republicans refuse to pass a bill that relies largely on tax cuts for businesses both big and small, a longtime favorite strategy of the right, it will serve only to prove that the party no longer has any ideology other than stifling the president's plans wherever possible.

But even if the bill passes, that does not guarantee it will work. From what I've read so far, most business owners aren't confident. They welcome the thought of tax cuts, but express doubt that they will add many new jobs.

The problem is, even if the plan does give the country's economy a much-needed shot in the arm, it will do little more than that. Obama's speech was a mix of rousing rhetoric coupled with feeble steps toward change. The president painted a picture of an American economy that is the envy of the world. The plans outlined may bring back a few jobs, but they will not, taken by themselves, launch America back to its former economic glory.

One of the most interesting parts of the plan called for new trade agreements with other nations such as South Korea. These agreements would help sell American products overseas, which is good.

They would not keep American employers from sending manufacturing jobs to China for pennies on the dollar. Obama said we should not be in a "race to the bottom" for the cheapest and least-regulated manufacturing sector, and I agree. But the only way American manufacturing can once again become No. 1 is to create a workforce that can accomplish what no other workforce in the world can hope to achieve: to invent, innovate and train workers to create jobs that literally cannot exist anywhere else.

The president's proposal does not offer this, despite Obama's lofty ambitions. It might be a step in the right direction though. Perhaps this a time for steady growth instead of radical change. And for the workers who benefit from this proposal, that may be enough.

Jacob Tierney can be reached by email at tierney.record@live.com