Robert Reich gives us his opinion of the President’s initiative in his article Two Cheers And One Jeer for The American Jobs Act.

Two cheers for the President and his America’s Jobs Act. Cheer Number One: In presenting it to a joint session of Congress, he sounded as passionate and determined as he’s ever sounded.

Second cheer: He laid out the problem correctly and effectively. He explained why jobs and growth must be the nation’s first priority now — not the federal deficit. The economy is in crisis. People are hurting. So government must act, and act quickly. It’s irresponsible at a time like this to suggest that government should simply close down.

But a jeer because the jobs plan he presented isn’t nearly large enough or bold enough to make a major dent in unemployment, or to restart the economy.

It reminds me of how we used to taunt the food servers in the mess hall in the Army.  They had the rank of Specialist.  We  used to praise them with remarks such as “Good water, Specialist”, or “Good bread, Specialist.”  We used anything that we were pretty sure they had bought instead of cooked.