“Many Americans are hurting badly right now. Many have been unemployed for too long,” Obama said in his weekly address. “Putting these men and women back to work, and growing wages for everyone, has got to be our top priority.”
But, Obama said, Washington has responded to the country’s continued problems only with more “partisanship and gridlock.”
More than a week after the financial services company Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ debt from its long-held AAA rating, Obama said partisanship has “undermined public confidence” and hindered efforts to grow the economy.
Calling on Americans to pressure their elected officials to put partisanship aside, Obama echoed remarks he delivered Thursday in Michigan in which he said the country’s broken political system needs to be fixed in order for America to move forward.
“So while there’s nothing wrong with our country, there is something wrong with our politics, and that’s what we’ve got to fix,” Obama said.
“So you’ve got a right to be frustrated. I am. Because you deserve better,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering.”
The president listed several initiatives he's been calling on Congress to pass — among them free trade pacts, measures to improve the patent system and an extension of a cut in the tax that workers pay to fund Social Security — and told voters to add their voice to his to push lawmakers to get it done.
"These are all things we can do right now. So let's do them," said Obama, who will repeat his economic message during a three-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday.
"And over the coming weeks, I'll put forward more proposals to help our businesses hire and create jobs, and won't stop until every American who wants a job can find one," said the president, without detailing specifics on what might be forthcoming.
Republicans used their weekly address to criticize Obama on the economy, particularly government regulations that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said were overly burdensome and therefore discouraging businesses from expanding and hiring.
"Clearly, the policies of this administration are not working," said Toomey, who is one of the lawmakers newly appointed to a congressional supercommittee charged with coming up with recommendations to cut the debt. "So, what went wrong? Well, a big part of the problem has been job-killing regulations."
"Every day, small business owners, job creators and entrepreneurs are bombarded with new regulations and higher costs, discouraging these employers from expanding their businesses and hiring additional workers.
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