From the Associated Press:

First, do no harm. Economists say the most important part of the jobs plan President Barack Obama will unveil Thursday night is the renewal of two measures already in place—a cut in Social Security taxes and emergency aid for the unemployed.

His new proposals, like spending more for transportation projects and cutting taxes for companies that hire the unemployed, probably wouldn’t add many jobs, they say. Not soon, anyway.

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From the UK’s Guardian:

It is clear, too, in the course of the two hours I spend with Greene that he has some pretty wacky ideas that, were he to win in November, would put him among the more unpredictable members of the senate. At one point, he lurches off on his big idea for how to create jobs in South Carolina.

“Another thing we can do for jobs is make toys of me, especially for the holidays. Little dolls. Me. Like maybe little action dolls. Me in an army uniform, air force uniform, and me in my suit. They can make toys of me and my vehicle, especially for the holidays and Christmas for the kids. That’s something that would create jobs. So you see I think out of the box like that. It’s not something a typical person would bring up. That’s something that could happen, that makes sense. It’s not a joke.”

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As the Central Illinois 912 Project has addressed previously on BigGovernment.com, Shorebank is a community bank based out of Chicago that is engaged in microfinancing – a hybrid of capitalism and social justice.  They have been supported and promoted by individuals like Van Jones, President Obama, President Clinton, and Secretary Clinton. They have also become heavily involved in the financing of green projects (see here and here).

In 2009, Shorebank received more than $35 million in federal funds for grants and new market tax credits. Despite this new flow of funds to extend to their customers and loan recipients, Shorebank reported a loss of $50 million in 2009 alone and was issued a “cease and desist” order by the FDIC and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.  In addition, ShoreBank was receiving strong warnings from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Their dire financial state had lead them to initially seek a “bailout” from the State of Illinois, promoted by Chicago Congresswoman Jan Shakowsky and Senator Dick Durbin. However, they have since decided that they can find capital without seeking state help.

Interestingly, Shorebank is currently seeking support from a few large banks –all of which have received federal bailout money from the Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP) and are Shorebank stockholders. These banks include Citigroup, Bank of America, and Chase. Citigroup initially received $25 billion in taxpayer money (plus another $20 billion soon after), and Bank of America initially received $15 billion (plus another $20 billion after that). Neither of these banks has completely paid back their TARP loan. Chase also received $25 billion in bailout funds, but repaid its loan in December of 2009. So rather than seeking a bailout from a state that has a $13 billion budget deficit, Shorebank is seeking to be bailed out by banks that have already been bailed out by federal taxpayers – which is, in essence, an indirect, federally-funded bailout.

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So before jetting off to accept his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, President Obama went on a sales run for his jobs package idea — and he came back empty handed. Why do the left and the right both hate this idea for spending TARP funds? We’ll discuss this and more on today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

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Related Links:

LAT: Obama Jobs Plan Draws Fire from Left and Right
Politico: GOP Concerns on Jobs
FNC: Special Report on Jobs Package