Obama creating jobs is the number one topic on the agenda of many. After minority groups and organizations have publicly asked President Obama to address the growing jobs problem, he has finally outlined plans to address this issue facing the seven million Americans laid off in the last two years. Obama gave broad outlines of steps to be executed by his administration that will focus on jobs, spurring small businesses, improving transportation and encouraging the building of energy-efficient homes. From the Associated Press:

President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession" until more Americans are back at work.

Without giving a price tag, Obama proposed a package of new spending for highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

"We avoided the depression many feared," Obama said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. But, he added, "Our work is far from done."

For the third time in a week, Obama sought to focus on job creation, noting that the unemployment rate was still at 10 percent in November, though down slightly from its 10.2 percent peak. He said "a staggering" 7 million Americans have lost jobs since the recession began two years ago.

While his proposal did not include the kind of direct federal public works jobs that were created in the 1930s, he said government could set the stage for more job creation by private businesses.

Read all the details on Obama and his jobs plan on The Huffington Post.

President Obama addresses an interesting dilemma in his jobs plan. Do we keep borrowing and spending now, with the faith that our economy will pick up and enable us to pay off the debt? Or do we let more Americans who want to work join the 7,000,000 new people who are struggling without jobs now, while leaving impoverished states with diminishing funds for public services? It seems that the answers to these questions are being spewed by some based on partisan lines, rather than sound logic.

While there is a risk to borrowing and spending, given that America has been an industrial leader since the beginning of industry, the chance that we will be able to pay off our debts and create jobs is quite reasonably high. The human cost of increased unemployment, on the other hand, could be impossible to reverse if social conditions deteriorate too far. Yet, Republicans are fighting Obama with absurd criticisms for not only his jobs outline; they are also fighting his health care bill, which Obama has already watered down in response to Republican attacks. Do Republicans really want the quality of life for the middle class to be shaken even further? And if there are better ideas, where are their plans to create jobs?

Republicans claim to be against borrowing and spending as a principle, seeing it as an irresponsible way to handle cash that will leave America in dire straits in the long run. Perhaps this simplistic line of thinking was enough to justify their resistance up until now. But Obama has some counter critiques for his hecklers this time around. Usually a man who ignores critics while calmly trying to persuade dissenters, Barack called out the Republicans point blank in his jobs creation speech:

He said that soon after taking office, he and congressional Democrats took "a series of difficult steps" to try to stabilize the financial system and pull the economy out of a deep recession.

"And we were forced to take those steps largely without the help of an opposition party which, unfortunately, after having presided over the decision-making that led to the crisis, decided to hand it to others to solve." (Source)

Ouch! Tell it like it is, Prez! Obama wants to create jobs. Republicans let good jobs fritter away by mismanaging the economy. There is not much more on jobs to be said.

I am glad that Obama is finally taking the gloves off when dealing with the Republican party. When he tried his utmost to make health care reform (something that is obviously needed) a bi-partisan affair, Obama was met with scorn, criticism and the spreading of outright lies by the elephants. Trying to be logical, reasonable and inclusive has not gotten him or the country anywhere. We may love Obama the Gentleman, but I think I love Obama the Truth-teller more. Sometimes, truth hurts. But it is only the revelation of sharp truths, no matter how stark, that will get working people the jobs they need, while calling out the very people who were in power when everything started to slide downhill.

Will "No Drama Obama" be replaced by "Obama the Warrrior" as he implements his jobs plan? I hope so. This is the kind of leadership we need to push both health care reform and jobs creation plans of Obama through.