Reeling from an unprecedented credit downgrade, tumbling financial markets and a high unemployment rate, President Obama on Thursday fought back against mounting bipartisan criticism of his leadership of a battered economy. “There is nothing wrong with our country; there is something wrong with our politics,” the president said. “The only thing keeping us back is our politics.”
Obama’s remarks came at a battery factory for hybrid vehicles in Holland, Mich., where he was promoting clean-energy jobs. The president announced that he would be releasing a job-creation plan in coming days.
But Obama appeared more concerned with deflecting attacks on his guidance of an economy that seemingly becomes more perilous as Election Day nears.
Perhaps the most common complaint hurled at the president of late is that he has not called back Congress from an August recess — a disparagement Obama forcefully dismissed Thursday.
“The last thing we need is Congress spending more time arguing in D.C.,” he said, adding that lawmakers should be listening to “frustration with all the gridlock” from those in their districts.
These days, some of Obama’s problems are about image as much as anything. Some have wondered how Obama and his family could depart for a 10-day vacation next week to Martha’s Vineyard amid so much turmoil.
Obama did not mention the vacation in his speech on Thursday, as he implored lawmakers to bring him concrete ideas to create jobs when they return to Washington next month.
Some Democrats, however, say Obama can ill afford to let his plan languish through the recess.
“For the life of me, I just don’t understand why [Obama] doesn’t put a plan out there,” said one Democratic strategist not associated with the White House or Obama’s re-election team. “Force the Republicans to say no to something, look like the obstructionists they are. His approach is truly perplexing.”
Even with the stock market rebounding Thursday, unemployment remains above 9 percent and ratings agency Standard & Poor’s recently downgraded the country’s credit rating from AAA to AA+.
No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has won re-election during such high levels of unemployment.
Attempting to showcase his attention to the issue, Obama on Thursday called for an extension of the payroll tax cut, additional road construction, approval of pending trade deals and reform of the patent system.
Obama will embark on a bus tour through Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois next week while Republicans crisscross Iowa and hone in on the president’s handling of the economy.
For now, though, Obama is doing what many voters have been doing for some time: blaming Congress.
“That’s why people are frustrated,” Obama said, attributing the unprecedented U.S. credit downgrade to Republican political posturing. “Maybe you hear it in my voice — that’s why I’m frustrated. Because you deserve better. You guys deserve better.”
