Jobs Act 'Party' Stokes Local Democrats

As Republican candidates continue their campaigns for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination in New Hampshire, the campaign to reelect President Barack Obama took to grassroots strategies in Salem Wednesday night by holding a "house party" at the on promoting the American Jobs Act.

Around two dozen local Democrats attended the meeting hosted by local Obama campaign staffers Kayla Calkin and Katie O'Neill. A lengthy portion of the meeting was taken up by a live stream from Chicago of Obama adviser David Simas talking about the proposed law.

Simas said the nation was losing 700,000 jobs a month when Obama took office but has seen private sector job growth each of the last 18 months.

"It isn't nearly enough," Simas said. "There's more that we need to do and the American Job Act is the President once again saying, 'Here's what we need to do.'"

According to the campaign, the bill includes $50 billion for infrastructure, $35 billion for keeping teachers, cops and firefighters in their jobs, $25 billion for school infrastructure, $15 billion to rebuild homes and $5 billion to modernize community colleges.

Simas said the bill would not add to the deficit because "we ask wealthiest Americans to do their fair share in getting the economy going again."

Attendees talked about the difficulty of getting their message across in a climate where Obama is getting constantly blasted by Republican candidates.

"The challenge is getting past all of the Republican rhetoric," said Kaye Galloway, a founding member of the Atkinson Democratic Committee. "They are deliberately stifling the message of the President...They're a do-nothing party and they've offered no substantial programs."