Obama Labor Day Speech: President Says Congress Must Pass Jobs Plan
DETROIT — President Barack Obama said Monday that congressional Republicans must put their country ahead of their party and vote to create new jobs as he used a boisterous Labor Day rally to aim a partisan barb at the GOP.
In a preview of the jobs speech he will deliver on Thursday to Congress, Obama said there are numerous roads and bridges that need rebuilding in the U.S., and over 1 million unemployed construction workers who are available to build them.
He said that with widespread suffering, "the time for Washington games is over" and lawmakers must move quickly to create jobs.
"But we're not going wait for them," he said at an annual event sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO. "We're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in Congress. We're going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party.
"Show us what you've got," Obama said.
Throughout the speech, the union crowd kept chanting "four more years."
In the speech to Congress, Obama is expected to call for a mix of individual and business tax credits and public works spending. He will also press lawmakers for swift action on those proposals.
The day after his address to Congress, Obama plans to visit Richmond, Va. – part of which is represented by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., one of the president's fiercest critics. Obama plans to spend a "decent amount of time" traveling the country to encourage support for his job creation plan, said deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
"These are bipartisan ideas that ought to be the kind of proposals that everybody can get behind, no matter what your political affiliation might be," Obama said last week. "So my hope and expectation is that we can put country before party and get something done for the American people."
full story here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/05/obama-labor-day-speech-_n_949374.html
DETROIT — President Barack Obama said Monday that congressional Republicans must put their country ahead of their party and vote to create new jobs as he used a boisterous Labor Day rally to aim a partisan barb at the GOP.
In a preview of the jobs speech he will deliver on Thursday to Congress, Obama said there are numerous roads and bridges that need rebuilding in the U.S., and over 1 million unemployed construction workers who are available to build them.
He said that with widespread suffering, "the time for Washington games is over" and lawmakers must move quickly to create jobs.
"But we're not going wait for them," he said at an annual event sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO. "We're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in Congress. We're going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party.
"Show us what you've got," Obama said.
Throughout the speech, the union crowd kept chanting "four more years."
In the speech to Congress, Obama is expected to call for a mix of individual and business tax credits and public works spending. He will also press lawmakers for swift action on those proposals.
The day after his address to Congress, Obama plans to visit Richmond, Va. – part of which is represented by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., one of the president's fiercest critics. Obama plans to spend a "decent amount of time" traveling the country to encourage support for his job creation plan, said deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
"These are bipartisan ideas that ought to be the kind of proposals that everybody can get behind, no matter what your political affiliation might be," Obama said last week. "So my hope and expectation is that we can put country before party and get something done for the American people."
full story here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/05/obama-labor-day-speech-_n_949374.html