Obama tells Dallas students that it's time for action

By Aman Batheja and Anna M. Tinsley abatheja@star-telegram.com President Barack Obama told hundreds of community college students in Mesquite that the time for action is now. He asked students at Eastfield College to reach out to their congressional leaders - by any means possible - and call on them to pass his $450 billion jobs bill.
He said his bill would shrink payroll taxes, spend money on public projects to help keep teachers, firefighters and police officers employed and extend benefits to those who are unemployed and be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes and boosting taxes on some wealthier Americans. "Republicans say they are the party of tax cuts," Obama said. "Tell them to prove it." He said if his bill isn't passed as of Jan. 1, tax cuts currently in place will expire, ensuring that "virtually every worker (will pay more)," he said. "I'm not about to let that happen, Texas." If it does pass, "the typical family in Texas will have an extra $1,400 in their pockets."
Gov. Rick Perry's presidential campaign issued a "welcome to Texas" statement for Obama, suggesting that he follow the state's lessons on how to handle the economy rather than come here to tell Texans what to do. "If President Obama was serious about job creation, he would use the Texas model of low taxes and limited government that has created almost 40 percent of all jobs in America since June 2009," Perry spokesman Mark Miner said. "Billions of dollars in spending is not the answer to turning around the nation's economic troubles created by the president." After Air Force One touched down about 11 a.m. at Dallas' Love Field, the president headed to two private fund raisers in Dallas to try to raise money for his own campaign and for other Democrats. Introducing Obama at one of the luncheons was retired Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
At the fundraisers, the president told donors that Democrats need to recapture the enthusiasm they had during the 2008 presidential campaign. "In 2008, we were running against something," he said. "Now we're running for something. "It won't be as sexy as 2008," he said. "Back then, I didn't have any gray hair ... Now I'm dinged up ... (but) my enthusiasm and my faith in America is unabated." But as he spoke to students at Eastfield College, he said he was stunned that U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va, said this week that the full jobs bill won't go before the House for a vote. "Well I'd like Mr. Cantor to come down here to Dallas and explain what in this jobs bill he doesn't believe in. Does he not believe in rebuilding America's roads and bridges? Does he not believe in tax breaks for small businesses, or efforts to help veterans?"
Obama said that Cantor should tell unemployed teachers, construction workers and small business owners why the bill shouldn't come up for a vote. "And if you won't do that, at least put this jobs bill up for a vote so that the entire country knows exactly where every member of Congress stands." Republicans locally and nationally began criticizing the president before his plane landed in North Texas. "Rather than coming to Texas to lecture us on his failed jobs plan, President Obama should try to learn about the low-tax low-regulation policies that actually produce jobs," said Ted Cruz, a candidate for the U.S. Senate. "There's something surreal about a president who has lost 3.4 million private sector jobs since he took office coming to Texas - which has created 40 percent of the jobs in the nation in that time - and telling us he has all the answers." Fellow U.S. Senate candidate Tom Leppert sent out a statement saying Obama doesn't know how to create jobs. "Looking at the sheer dysfunction in Washington, it is clear that career politicians lack the experience and courage necessary to make the tough calls to get our country back on track," Leppert said. "They think by spending more tax dollars, running up massive debt, and growing the federal government, jobs will somehow magically appear. Our economy does not work that way. "This is what we get when we send folks to Washington whose resumes consist of nothing but big political speeches and one political or governmental job after another," he said. "Speeches filled with empty rhetoric and politicians without ideas will not be enough to get the job done."
And Ryan Mahoney, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said the president should be working with Republicans to find a true solution. "President Obama's Stimulus 2.0 isn't a plan to put our country back to work; it's a rehash of the same failed policies from the first stimulus that didn't create jobs and saddled future generations with soaring debt," said Ryan Mahoney, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "Showing just how out-of-touch President Obama has become, even Democrats in the Senate have ignored calls to pass his bill because they know it's full of gimmicks and bad policy."

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Amanda Knox: 'Thank you for being there for me'

Check out CNN affiliates KOMO-TV and KIRO-TV in Seattle for the latest on Amanda Knox's expected arrival home.

(CNN) -- In brief remarks to the media just after returning to her hometown of Seattle, an emotional Amanda Knox thanked those who believed in her and supported her fight to overturn her murder conviction in Italy.

"I'm really overwhelmed right now," said a tearful Knox, who arrived to cheering supporters at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. "I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real."

"What's important for me to say is thank you, to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family," she said, her voice shaking. Being with her family, she said, is "the most important thing to me right now.

"Thank you for being there for me," she said.

Knox and her family were on a British Airways flight that landed in Seattle about 8:12 p.m. ET.

Before beginning her remarks, Knox smiled and said, "They're reminding me to speak in English, because I'm having problems with that."

An Italian appeals court on Monday overturned Knox's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher. Knox initially was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Knox's mother and stepfather, Edda and Curt Mellas, also thanked those who have supported their family, as well as the Italian attorneys who fought on her behalf.

"Meredith was Amanda's friend," said Philadelphia attorney Theodore Simon, who spoke at the news conference. Knox wants the Kercher family to be remembered, Simon said as Knox nodded and appeared to fight tears.

Knox supporters in Seattle said they planned a rousing welcome.

"To Amanda herself, we say, 'Way to go, kid,' " Tom Wright, founder of the group Friends of Amanda Knox, said Monday night.

"We look forward to welcoming you home with open arms and open hearts," Wright said, reading a statement. "You have well deserved, and will well deserve, all the joy and warmth and fun of your normal life returned to you."

The statement also said that it was "primarily a sad occasion," and that the group's "deepest sympathies" were with Kercher's family.

CNN affiliate KOMO-TV reported that Wright was among a group of more than a dozen supporters who gathered at a hotel suite to watch the jury return its decision about Knox more than 5,000 miles away.

Afterward, Margaret Ralph was among those crying tears of joy. Asked what she'll say when she sees Knox, Ralph told KOMO, "I won't say anything. I'll just give her a big hug and kiss."

"It was incredible," fellow supporter Kellanne Henry told KOMO, adding that it took a minute to absorb the news. "They finally got it right," she said.

Many Seattle residents took to social media to post messages.

"I am so happy this nightmare is over for you," Seattle resident Jenn Whitney wrote in a posting on one of several Facebook pages devoted to Knox. Whitney said she "cried with joy" when Knox's conviction was overturned. "I pray that God brings you home safely," she added.

"If I had the chance to greet her when she lands back here in Seattle, the only thing I would do is hand her a rose, give her a hug and say 'welcome home!' " Jeff Bamby posted.

On another Facebook page, Tamara Slater wrote, "Amanda you have been in the prayers of so many people, it must be heart warming to know you were never forgotten. Welcome home!"

CNN affiliate KIRO-TV reported that when staff went out to gauge reactions to the news out of Italy on Monday, "We met just a few people in West Seattle who disagreed with Monday's ruling and thought that Knox was guilty."

Jordan Adams said he thought Knox was guilty, but he was willing to accept the decision to overturn the conviction. "I did think she was guilty, but I guess, good luck to her since she's been freed and cleared," he told KIRO.

Early Tuesday morning, a jogger who spotted a CNN crew in Seattle's Queen Anne Hill neighborhood stopped and yelled, "Yay Amanda! Welcome home!"

But later, another resident walked up to a CNN crew to say that she could not "care less about Knox returning home" and that she believed Knox committed the crime.

CNN's Josh Levs and Sandra Endo contributed to this report.

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Senate GOP tries for immediate vote on Obama jobs plan

 By NBC's Libby Leist

Senate Republicans sought Tuesday to force an immediate vote on President Obama's jobs plan in a ploy reacting to the President's nationwide barnstorm to push for a vote “right away” on the measure.
Holding a copy of the President's plan on the Senate floor this afternoon, Republican Leader Mitch McConnell moved to vote this week on the bill that he dubbed "Stimulus II." McConnell said he was responding to calls from the White House, including the president today, to hold a vote now.
"I think he's entitled to a vote. It won't surprise anyone to know I don't think it's a good approach, a way that's unlikely to create jobs, but he's asked for a vote and I think we ought to accommodate the president of the United States on a matter that he has been speaking about frequently over the last few weeks and give him his vote," McConnell said.
It was a maneuver by McConnell to try to set up a politically embarrassing vote for Democrats; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) hasn't yet secured the support of his full caucus of the jobs bill, partially because of some of the measures used to finance the $447 billion price tag.
Because of that, Reid promptly objected to holding a vote now, arguing there was other legislation pending before the Senate. "We need to move to this right away. There is no question about that. But to tack this onto the China currency manipulation legislation is nothing more than a political stunt. We all know that," he said. The two party leaders then debated the merits of an immediate vote on the package, for which Obama pressed during a trip this afternoon to Dallas.
 In that speech, Obama excoriated House GOP Leader Eric Cantor for refusing an up-or-down vote on the whole jobs package. Cantor has said he would allow individual votes on aspects of the bill that Republicans find palatable. "Mr. President, I think my good friend's problem here and I sympathize with him is there's bipartisan opposition to the President's proposal," McConnell said. Reid shot back: "Mr. President, I didn't want to hear my friend say that. I didn't want to get into a long dissertation about bipartisan opposition. There's 53 of us.
A majority of Democrats will support the President's jobs bill." Reid has promised to move to the president's bill later this month, and he indicated at a reporter stakeout today that he was working on gaining support of wavering Democrats by altering the pay-fors that the president had suggested. "There are a wide range of things that we're looking at, because the only objections
I've heard from my caucus on the president's jobs bill is dealing with the pay-fors. So we're resolving that issue as we speak," he said. The president has proposed limits on itemized deductions and tax exemptions for individuals who earn over $200,000 and families earning over $250,000 as the bulk of how he would pay for his jobs bill.

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