Obama to GOP: Pass Jobs Program

President says jobless construction workers can build roads, bridges
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 5, 2011 4:15 PM CDT
Obama Urges GOP to Pass Jobs Program
President Barack Obama speaks during a Labor Day event at Detroit's Renaissance Center, headquarters of General Motors, Monday, Sept., 5, 2011, in Detroit, Mich.    (Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama said today that congressional Republicans must put their country ahead of their party and vote to create new jobs as he used a boisterous Labor Day rally to aim a partisan barb at the GOP. In a preview of the jobs speech he will deliver on Thursday to Congress, Obama said there are numerous roads and bridges that need rebuilding in the US, and over 1 million unemployed construction workers who are available to build them.

Citing massive federal budget deficits, Republicans have expressed opposition to spending vast new sums on jobs programs. But Obama said that with widespread suffering, "the time for Washington games is over" and lawmakers must move quickly to create jobs. "But we're not going wait for them," he said at an annual event sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO. "We're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in Congress. We're going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party."

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