Obama hits Republicans for lack of action on jobs

President Barack Obama talks about the economy, Friday, June 8, 2012, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington.

/ AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

UPDATED 1:56 p.m. ET

(CBS News) President Obama urged Congress to take steps to boost the economy and called on Republican lawmakers to explain why they are not taking action if they don't, while rival Mitt Romney pounced on the president's assessment that the private sector is "doing fine."

"Right now people in this town should be focused on doing everything we can to keep our recovery going and keeping our country strong," Mr. Obama said one week after the Labor Department said the unemployment rate rose a tick in May to 8.2 percent. That is the first upward tick since June 2011.

The U.S. unemployment rate has been over 8 percent since February 2009, the longest stretch since government records began in 1948, though it has been on a downward trend since it peaked at 10.0 percent in October 2009.

The U.S. economy is facing additional headwinds from Europe which is facing the prospect of a double-dip recession as the financial crisis continues there.

Mr. Obama said the United States should learn from the experiences of Europe, where many countries are in a downward spiral because they are cutting spending too quickly and interest rates are on the rise as investors see that it will be harder for countries to pay down their debts.

"I think that what we want both for ourselves, but what we've advised in Europe as well, is a strategy that says, 'Let's do everything we can to grow now even as we lock in a long-term plan to stabilize our debt and our deficits and start bringing them down in a -- in a steady, sensible way,' " he said.

The president blamed Republicans for blocking his so-called "To Do" list of items that lawmakers can do to boost economic growth in the near term, including proposals to give tax breaks to small businesses that boost hiring and a proposal to make it easier for homeowners who are current on their mortgage to refinance at lower interest rates.

"Now if Congress decides despite all that they aren't going to do anything about this simply because it is an election year, then they should explain to the American people why," Mr. Obama told reporters.

The comments continue his strategy of hitting Congress for obstructionism, echoing Harry Truman's famous 1948 victory after blaming a Republican Congress for doing nothing.

Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, used the press conference to hit the president for being out of touch with most Americans.

Mr Obama "said 'the private sector is doing fine.' Is he really that out of touch? I think he's defining what it means to be detached and out of touch with the American people," Romney said, returning fire with a frequent attack the Obama campaign makes against him.

"For the president of the United States to stand up and say 'the private sector is doing fine' is going to go down in history. It's extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding by a president whose out of touch and we're going to take back this country and get America working again," Romney said in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In its May employment report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which measures U.S. job growth, said the economy added 82,000 private sector jobs and lost 13,000 public sector jobs for net job creation of just 69,000 new jobs. Economists say the economy needs to add somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000 jobs per month to keep up with population growth. In addition to the lackluster May report, the department revised its estimate for job growth in March and April downward, leaving the average job growth for those three months at just 96,000.

Mr. Obama spoke in overtly political terms.

"The recipes that (Republicans) are promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the economy. Would result in furthers layoffs. Would not provide relief in the housing market. And would result, I think most economists estimate, in lower growth and fewer jobs, not more," Mr. Obama said.

House Speaker John Boehner also took issue with the president's assessment that the private sector job growth is fine.

"Well, Mr. President, I used to run a small business. And, Mr. President, take it from me, the private sector is not doing well," he said.

The president noted that the weakest job growth in the economy is in construction and state and local government hiring.

"And so if Republicans want to be helpful, if they really want to move forward and put people back to work, what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments and how do we help the construction industry," he said.

Asked about that comment directly, Boehner said he does not think weak public sector hiring is a drag on the economy.

New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie also took issue with Mr. Obama's call for more hiring of government workers.

"The president fundamentally believes that the way to support our economy is to take more in taxes from all of you and spend it on more public workers who then will pay a fraction of that money back in taxes," Christie said.

"If anybody ran a business like that they would be out of business quickly and Barack Obama's leadership is driving this business, the United States of America, toward a fiscal cliff. We'd better stand together in the next five months and stop him from doing it," Christie said.

Asked about the Republican criticism of the president's comments, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said the president has always been clear that more needs to be done to recover from the recession.

"He's got a plan on the table that would create over a million jobs right now and addresses specific weaknesses in last month's jobs report," LaBolt said.

"You saw the weaknesses among public sector workers and construction workers. He's got a plan on the table that would keep teachers in classrooms, cops on the street, and put construction workers back to work through the infrastructure plan," he added.

Additional reporting by Jill Jackson, Matt Shelley and Rebecca Kaplan.

Watch the full statement here:

[purplestates]

The President Obama is right, GOP congress focus too much on passing irrelevant bill like war vs. women, while they're sitting on job bill that could produce up to 2 million jobs for American workers. Why? GOP only cares about 1 job, that is to gain the White House, instead of million of American jobs.

check out: The War on Women by the Ridiculous Numbers

http://jezebel.com/5898508/the-war-on-women-by-the-ridiculous-numbers/
.............

Rep. Miller: Republicans are deliberately sabotaging the economy

http://leanforward.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/04/12054612-rep-miller-republicans-are-deliberately-sabotaging-the-economy?lite

Republicans deliberately sabotaging economy? Duh!

http://open.salon.com/blog/ted_frier/2012/06/05/republicans_deliberately_sabotaging_economy_duh

Republicans Attempt to Actively Sabotage U.S. Economy to Win Fall Election

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/republicans-attempt-to-ac_b_1576962.html


GOP's job-killing election strategy

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/dick_polman/20120610_Polman__GOP_s_job-killing_election_strategy.html?c=0.8522191155976119&posted=y&viewAll=y#comments


Republicans deliberately crash the US economy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/09/did-republicans-deliberately-crash-us-economy?commentpage=1#start-of-comments

[Heathergreeneyes]

Let ne see if I have this correct. Obama is the president, he has been working on job creation for all of his three and half years as president. But he is blaming lack of job growth on the Republicans?

Isn't he in charge? Hasn't his party controlled congress for at least two of the three years Obama has been president, and several of the last years of the Bush administration also?

But Obama blames the Republicans? Come on! That's funny!

[TonyTrolluci]

Didn't pass gov101 huh?

Let me help you out. Along with the executive branch (President) of government, we have 2 legislative branches. Those branches being the House and the Senate. In order for any law to be made just, it needs to pass not only the Senate, which is in Democratic control, but the House, which is in Republican control.

The president is unable to force a vote from either the Senate or the House. If he were able to, this would be a dictatorship, not a democracy.

However, what we are witnessing is something very unique in American history. We have a legislative branch that is more interested in unseating a president, than helping their constituents. They do this by rejecting any proposal that the President provides, good or bad. Every idea Obama provides is inherently bad, because it's an "Obozo" idea.

[snow611]

As the saying goes..."Leaders perform, Failures blame"

[realist2010]

So what's up with blaming Obama for the massive Republican failure he inherited?

[drman2]

What's up with it "realist2010" is that Obama may have inherited, as you call it, " a massive Republican failure," but 4 years into his term (with 2 of those years having Democratic control of Congress), it most definitely is now a "massive Obama failure."

[conleygm]

Obama wants Congress desirable Republicans to pick-up his socks and for them to tell him what a suit hanger looks like. Obama's to do list for Congress is very similar to his home situation. - Michelle Obama, "no Obama isn't neat, it is the people around him who are neat, they pick up his shocks,..."

Michelle Obama drops to the floor for a push-up challenge on Ellen DeGeneres http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095246/Michelle-Obama-drops-floor-push-challenge-Ellen-DeGeneres.html

[badforu]

Obama spent trillions and still crying about people not doing something? This guy is a joke. Spent trillions and nothing but failure, failure in who he appointed to head our American Institutions, failure in his policies and to a large extent shows an "unamerican" attitude towards issues close to the American peoples concerns. OBAMA IS THE FAILURE, not the american people.

[msmich]

Obama has not spent TRILLIONS to begin with actually he has cut government spending. The only joke I see and it isn't funny is the Republican majority who have spent the better part of 2 years on abortions, naming post offices, light bulbs and attacking women. NOT ONE JOBS BILL. We are all suffering 10years of failed Republican policies that have caused more harm to this country and its people than any terrorist could of hoped for. KICK THE ENTIRE PARTY TO THE CURB. Republicans have never cut spending actually it always increases under Republicans, ZERO out of 5 Republican Presidents have balanced the budget 4 out of 5 Democratic Presidents have balanced the budget. My money is on the party that stands for the middle class THE DEMOCRATS, I have contributed too much of my hard earn money to the class of elites and I will never support policies that tell me to sacrific so that the rich can have more. Isn't going to happen. Obama 2012/ Elizabeth Warren 2016.

[aicohnx3]

>President Obama urged Congress to take steps to boost the economy and called on Republican lawmakers to explain why they are not taking action if they don't<

"Government isn't the solution to our problems. Government IS the problem."

"Most feared words... 'I'm from the government & I'm here to help you!"

Enuf said.

[Meritous]

Another White House Press Memo brought to you by your Obama-loving lap-dogs, the MSN.

[realist2010]

Time for a new excuse, please.

[dronestrikemike]

Vent your frustrations with your employer(s), current or past! Ggle. werkrelease.com--and "GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST!!!!"

[Ztarbod]

President Obama's "to do list" has been tried and it has failed. Perhaps he should admonish the democrats in the Senate to do more. Oh wait, his strategy is to blame republicans and headwinds, responsible action is not in the cards.

[sandman829]

Well since every thing he has wanted to do has been blocked, filibustered or not fully funded. The Greedy Old Party said off the git go that for them job one was to make Obama a one term president. The fact is that the things Obama wants to do worked after the Great Depression and the Reagan recession.

[msmich]

The only thing that has failed is the Republican trickle down economics. Obama is on the right track and this country is not going back to coddling the rich at our expense. GET USE TO IT

[acommoner]

Now if he will just adopt a policy of Fair Free Trade, of A Sustainable Jobs Initiative - We in the USA set many: quality, safety, health, environment and wage standards for various reasons. We can not set all these regulations and requirements and not expect that thousands of US American factories, millions of US American jobs, billions of US American dollars, and now the interest and obligation on trillions of US American debt would not be exported in the name of Free Trade. We do not need fewer regulations. We only need Fair Free Trade, a level playing field for the US American worker/producer to compete on for the USA market. Fair Free Trade! (Not Balanced Trade - Exporting a billion dollars of raw materials and importing a billion dollars of "Made In China" consumer goods does not return jobs to US Americans.) Fair Free Trade, where all imports to any given market must meet at least ALL minimum production/providing standards of: quality, safety, health, environment, and wages of the importing country, would bring factories, and sustainable jobs back to the USA. It would put money in the hands of our working domestic consumers, and directly into the hands of working foreign consumers that could then buy more "Made In The USA" products. Go to: www. manifestry. info > Trade