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| President Barack Obama waves to media as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House after stepping off of Marine One in Washington, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. |
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A combative President Barack Obama rolled out a long-term jobs program Monday that will exceed $50 billion to rebuild roads, railways and runways, and coupled it with a blunt campaign-season assault on Republicans for causing Americans' hard economic times.
GOP leaders instantly assailed Obama's proposal, which is also likely to be met with reluctance by many Democrats to approve additional spending and higher federal deficits just weeks before elections that will determine control of Congress.
That means the plan has low odds of becoming law this year. Administration officials said that even quick congressional approval would not produce jobs until sometime next year, raising questions about what, if any, pre-election impact it would have beyond showing job-hungry voters that the White House is trying to ease unemployment.
In remarks prepared for delivery to a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, the president said Republicans are betting that between now and Election Day on Nov. 2, Americans will forget the Republican economic policies that led to the current recession.
"These are the folks whose policies helped devastate our middle class and drive our economy into a ditch. And now they're asking you for the keys back," Obama said.
Republicans made it clear that Obama can expect no help from them.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the plan "should be met with justifiable skepticism" because it would raise taxes, while Americans are "still looking for the 'shovel-ready' jobs they were promised more than a year ago" in the $814 billion economic stimulus measure.
The House Republican leader, John Boehner of Ohio, added "We don't need more government 'stimulus' spending. We need to end Washington Democrats' out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes, and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses."
Administration officials said the initial $50 billion would be the beginning of a six-year program of transportation improvements, but they did not give an overall figure. The proposal has a longer-range focus than last year's economic stimulus bill, which was more targeted on immediate job creation.
