Congressional Republicans on Tuesday vowed to block a series of bills aimed at reducing the nation’s rate of unemployment, saying they would oppose any attempt to increase revenue.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, slammed President Obama during a speech on the Senate floor Monday, saying that Americans have every right to be skeptical of the administration because is it is now “living with the hard reality”
“He wants people to think that the problem isn’t his policies,” Mr. McConnell said. “It’s those mean Republicans in Congress who oppose them. But the president leaves a few things out of the re-election script that he brought along on his bus tour.”
Citing the latest unemployment report released by the Labor Department earlier this month, Mr. McConnell said Mr. Obama’s latest campaign tour was little more than an effort to “deflect attention” from his administration’s economic policies.
Speaking during a campaign tour through North Carolina, President Obama shot back, saying Republicans are adopting a “No we can’t’’ approach to the nation’s jobs crisis.
“They’re going to have to come down to North Carolina and tell kids why they can’t have their teachers back in the classroom,” Mr. Obama said. “They’re going to have to tell those construction workers — look them in the eye — and say, ‘You know what? Sorry. We can’t afford to rebuild those broken-down roads and those crumbling bridges.’”
“The most important thing I wanted to do was to hear from people like you, because it doesn’t seem like your voices are being heard in Washington right now. Times are tough for a lot of Americans,” Mr. Obama added.
Mr. Obama’s campaign tour comes as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Monday that he is considering keeping the U.S. Senate in session over the weekend in an effort to pass key components of President Obama’s jobs bill.
“We cannot wait to create jobs. That is why I will bring this bill up for a vote as soon as possible. … I am happy to keep the Senate in session as long as we need to make sure we get a vote on this jobs bill,” Mr. Reid said in a phone call with reporters. “I hope my Republican colleagues will not put their desire to play political games or go home next week ahead of our responsibility to create jobs and get our economy back on track.”
Meanwhile, Democrat have indicated support for a series of proposals appropriating $35 billion for teachers, police officers and firefighters. The measure would be paid for by a 0.5 percent tax increase on Americans making more than $1 million dollars.
Following the campaign stops in North Carolina, Mr. Obama will travel to Virginia. He won the two Republican- leaning states in 2008 and is trying to hold both next year.
North Carolina’s unemployment rate is above the national average, at 10.4 percent. While that is down from the high point of 11.3 percent in February 2010, it is well above the 4.7 percent rate the state experienced in June 2007.
Virginia, which has a broader base of military and other federal government jobs, was hit less hard by the recession. Still, the jobless rate there rose from a low of 2.8 percent in March 2007 to 7.2 percent in December 2009. It was 6.3 percent in August.
