Last week Congress approved the HIRE Act, or Jobs Bill, on a vote of 68 to 29. Eleven Republicans joined all the Democrats – except for Ben Nelson (Neb.) who was not present for the vote – to pass the $18 billion bill. The president signed the bill into law on March 18th, his largest legislative move since the Stimulus Bill. “I’m signing it, mindful, as I’ve said before, that the solution to our economic problems won’t come from government alone. Government can’t create all of the jobs we need or repair all of the damage done by this recession,” President Obama said as he signed the bill. Before spring break Mass Media polled 100 UMB students with three questions: Are you aware of the Jobs Bill that President Obama has been pushing through congress? Do you think it’s important that it passes? Who’s the first person that comes to mind when you think of the United States Congress? 27 of the people polled knew about the jobs bill, and all of these 27 students felt that the Jobs Bill should pass.”You know the … problem is the funding. You can’t be giving out tax breaks left and right. But anything that will get companies hiring again is a good thing,” a senior history major commented. The Jobs Bill includes a Social Security tax break for companies that hire people who have been out of work for more than 60 days. And as a supplement it offers a $1000 tax break for each person that the company retains for more than 52 weeks.After a brief explanation, 62 of the students polled said they think passing the bill would be a good idea. The people who disagreed were generally worried about funding, or they said they didn’t know and didn’t want to give an opinion. “That’s a lot of money to spend on companies,” said a junior poli-sci major. “If companies aren’t hiring anyway, that bill won’t matter.”When we asked students who they think of when they think of Congress, we got a wide variety of responses. “Don’t know. Who’s in [trails off] . . . When I think of politics I think of my mom, because she’s always talking about that noise,” said a student on the first floor of the Campus Center. Other student answers ranged from Scott Brown, who’s invaded 47 student minds, to Barack Obama who got the second highest rating with 23 students, even though he’s not in congress anymore. To participate in future polls visit our website – umassmedia.com – and make your voice heard.