President Barack Obama, in a sharp challenge to Republicans, proposed paying for his costly new jobs plan with tax increases on the wealthy that Republicans already have rejected.
By daring Republicans to reject the tax increases again, Obama could gain a talking point as the 2012 presidential campaign moves forward, if not a legislative victory.
Flanked at the White House by workers he said the legislation would help, Obama declared, “This is the bill that Congress needs to pass. No games. No politics. No delays.” He sent it to Congress with the comment: “The only thing that’s stopping it is politics.”
Lingering weakness in the U.S. economy has landed Obama in a tough re-election battle, and some Democrats have grown frustrated by his tendency to give in to Republican positions on tax and spending legislation, which many in his party consider buckling under to the opposition.
The president’s latest proposal drew criticism from House Speaker John Boehner, who previously had responded in cautious but somewhat receptive tones to the $447 billion jobs plan comprising tax cuts and new spending that Obama proposed in an address to Congress last Thursday.
From: http://ping.fm/O9AjY
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