Bush Takes to the Road to Push Training Proposal

Fresh from his annual State of the Union address, President Bush traveled Wednesday to Ohio and Arizona, promoting a package of job-training proposals he said would help students and the unemployed find new jobs.

The package was Bush’s response to what many believe is the most vulnerable part of his domestic policy: the loss of more than 2 million jobs during the last three years.

“As technology races through the economy, some people ... are being left behind because of [their] skill sets,” Bush told students and teachers at Owens Community College in nearby Perrysburg Township. “This country of ours must ... recognize that the workforce needs to be constantly trained to stay up with the technological advances.”

Critics dismissed the initiative -- dubbed “jobs for the 21st century” by the White House -- saying it amounted to a hodgepodge of small proposals that largely duplicated current programs. They also contended that the more than $500 million in funds promised by Bush would barely replace what had been cut from existing programs in the last two years.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” complained Wendell Primus, Democratic staff director of Congress’ Joint Economic Committee. “If you look at all they’ve been cutting, some [of the proposed new spending] is just getting it back to baseline.”

Critics also complained that Bush’s proposals essentially would redirect funds from Department of Labor programs that help the unemployed to Department of Education programs for high school and college students. That would mean even less support for the long-term jobless, the critics argued.

White House officials disputed that characterization, insisting that the administration plans would increase budgets in both departments and assist a variety of groups.

“The recognition is that the ... education system, [the] training system that has been in place in the past, is not meeting some of the demands of the changing economy, changing demands for the workforce,” a senior administration official told reporters during the Ohio visit. “These proposals are intended to ensure that kids, students, dislocated workers are better prepared upon entering the workforce.”

Many Americans expect big ideas and sweeping visions from their president during the State of the Union speech, as well as a “laundry list” of legislative initiatives. But by most standards, Bush offered little in the way of an agenda, especially on the economy or domestic policy.

The newest and biggest proposal was the jobs-training package -- a small program by any measure. And it’s not really clear whether it is a jobs program or an education program.

Bruce Buchanan, a longtime Bush observer at the University of Texas, said the president was probably trying to avoid the unemployment issue.

“The little he had to say about jobs was in there to preempt people who would complain he didn’t mention it,” Buchanan said. “There’s not much he can do or say about it before the fall.”

Some political insiders had expected the president to be more expansive, but they found the speech to be largely defensive in nature.

David Gergen, who has advised presidents of both parties, said Bush was “shrewd not to overpromise on jobs.”

“Given the paltry job [creation] numbers, he may not be able to deliver on jobs before the election,” Gergen said. He noted that the main reason the president’s father failed to win reelection in 1992 was the public perception that he did not care about the economic downturn in the early 1990s.

“This sends the right signal,” Gergen said. “It’s a defensive measure. It’s a way to say, ‘I care.’ ”

The job-training package offered Tuesday is not the president’s first crack at a retraining initiative. Last year, Bush proposed spending $3 billion on “reemployment accounts” that would give long-term unemployed workers up to $3,000 each to spend on education or relocation expenses.

Democrats opposed the measure because the money could not be used to pay for food or housing, both of which, they argued, were more critical for many families without income. An extension of unemployment benefits expired at the end of 2003 and the White House has not proposed an additional extension.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy defended the president’s record on unemployment, saying that although Bush had not yet determined whether he supported a further extension of unemployment benefits, he was willing to work with Congress on the issue.

Duffy also said the president had previously cut job-training programs because he did not believe they were effective.

“The president has proposed phasing down some job-training proposals that have proved to be ineffective in helping people train for and get new jobs,” Duffy said. “The president talks about funding programs that work.”

Among the proposals in the president’s package are:

* $250 million to fund job-training “partnerships” between community colleges and employers;

* $33 million for expanded Pell Grants for low-income students who complete rigorous coursework in high school;

* $220 million for parallel initiatives to foster reading and math skills among middle- and high-school students; and

* $28 million in added funding to bolster Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, mostly to better prepare teachers in low-income schools to teach such curricula.

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Reynolds reported from Washington and Chen reported from Toledo, Ohio, and Mesa, Ariz.