Title: OBAMA 2nd UPD

HEAD: Obama Criticizes Republican Rival Over Jobs Bill

DATE: 10/04/11

NUMBER: 1453666

TYPE: CN ))

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling on a leading Republican in the House of Representatives to bring a $447 billion jobs bill up for a vote in his chamber.

The White House Tuesday released the president's harsh criticism of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, part of excerpts from a speech Mr. Obama is scheduled to give in the southern state of Texas. The president also challenges Cantor to come to Texas to explain to the American people “what in this jobs bill he does not believe in.”

Cantor previously has said the president's bill will never get enough support in Congress, and he has criticized Mr. Obama for what he has described as a go-it-alone approach.

Mr. Obama has been traveling across the country touting his jobs bill as a way to get people back to work and spark the economy.

U.S. voters have been increasingly worried about the state of the U.S. economy and a lack of jobs, with the unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent for months.

Mr. Obama also is slated to speak at a campaign fundraiser in Dallas, Texas.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is vying to become the Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential elections.

On Monday, the president said he does not consider himself to be the favorite to win the country's 2012 presidential elections, telling a television interviewer that the faltering economy has “absolutely” made him an underdog in his bid to win a second term as president.