President Barack Obama today sought to turn up the heat on Republicans blocking his jobs package in Congress as he embarked on a campaign-style bus tour across states vital to his 2012 re-election chances.
Hitting the road again, this time in the swing states of North Carolina and Virginia, Mr Obama attempted to rally public support in pressuring US lawmakers to pass at least parts of his $447 billion jobs agenda, even after the plan as a whole was defeated last week.
"We're going to give members of Congress a chance to step up to the plate and to do the right thing," Mr Obama told a cheering crowd at the airport in Asheville, North Carolina, the starting point for his slow-rolling, three-day trek through small southern towns in a jet-black armoured bus.
As Mr Obama spoke, a senior party aide in Washington said Senate Democrats planned to force a vote this week on a portion of the jobs bill. The aide said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is crafting a proposal to provide about $35 billion to help states hire and prevent layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police officers.
Mr Obama's strategy is to force Republicans to give ground or else be painted as obstructionists impeding his drive to revive the stagnant US economy and reduce high unemployment as voters focus more on looming presidential and congressional election races.
With anti-Wall Street protests gaining momentum across the country, Mr Obama was also expected to try to harness public anger at corporate greed against Republicans he accuses of trying to shield millionaires and billionaires from higher taxes he wants them to pay to help fund his jobs plan.
Mr Obama, whose poll numbers have fallen over public discontent with his economic stewardship, has voiced sympathy with the grievances of the Occupy Wall Street protest movement but has done so cautiously, not least because of his own economic team's ties to the financial industry.
He made no direct mention of the protests in his speech on the airport tarmac, but criticised Republicans for trying to roll back sweeping Wall Street financial reforms that he championed early in his term.
Republicans say Mr Obama's original jobs package was laden with wasteful spending and counterproductive tax hikes for wealthier Americans. His opponents have accused him of demonising them and promoting "class warfare" instead of working with them to find areas of agreement.
The deadlock has raised concerns that political dysfunction in Washington will prevent any major steps to spur hiring before the November 2012 elections.
Reuters