U.S. President Barack Obama is urging Congress to pass his $447 billion jobs proposal, saying it will boost economic growth and put people back to work.
He told reporters at the White House Thursday that the American people need help and the economy needs a “jolt” right now. He says the economy is too fragile to let politics get in the way of action.
Mr. Obama said the American Jobs Act would help put 1.9 million people back to work, including teachers, firefighters, police officers and construction workers. He also said there is no doubt economic growth has slowed and warned failure to pass the bill could cause even “more significant problems than we have now.”
The president said the Senate will vote on the bill next week and urged lawmakers to pass the bill and “take action that is big enough to meet the moment.” He said proposals put forward by Republicans in Congress fall far short of what is needed to boost the economy.
Republicans have been critical of Mr. Obama's jobs bill. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, speaking on Capitol Hill before Mr. Obama's news conference, accused the president and Democrats of resorting to “the same stale rhetoric we have heard literally for years.”
McConnell has previously offered to give the president the vote he has been seeking, but he said the measure should be defeated. The majority leader in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, has accused the president of using an “all-or-nothing” approach, calling it unreasonable.
Mr. Obama has been traveling across the country touting his jobs bill as a way to get people like teachers and construction workers back on the job to spark the economy.
Voters have been increasingly worried about the state of the economy and lack of jobs, with the unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent for months.
Mr. Obama also said he believes the American people have become very cynical and no longer believe lawmakers will act in their best interests. He said the recent protests on Wall Street and elsewhere are a sign of that growing frustration.
The president also warned that the current economic problems in Europe could have a real impact on the United States if no action is taken.
