Obama pushes for passage of state aid bill

President Obama this morning commented on the pending House vote on a state aid bill that would send $26.1 billion in federal funding to the states for Medicaid and education funding to prevent the layoffs of thousands of public school teachers. He encouraged the House to pass the bill so he could sign it into law.

Reacting to claims from Republicans that the bill is designed only to help “special interests,” Obama said:

“I suppose if America’s children and the safety of our communities are your special interests, then it is a special interest bill,” Obama said.

Republicans continued their attacks:

“Everyone knows that state budgets have been hit hard, and no one wants teachers to lose their jobs,” Boehner said. “But where do the bailouts end? The American people are fed up with the Democrats’ ‘stimulus’ spending, and they certainly don’t want another job-killing tax hike on U.S. job-creators.”

Except that this bill does not increase taxes and is deficit-neutral.