All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

President Obama today sought out Republican input about how to revive the American economy. Republicans say they have ideas.

The two parties, however, just can't see eye to eye.

Republicans have roundly criticized Mr. Obama's plans for stimulating job creation, which include new spending for infrastructure projects like highways, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives for energy-efficient home improvements. The president, nevertheless, invited both Democrats and Republicans to the White House today to discuss job creation.

The meeting, as White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs put it today, "was not without politics."

Multiple sources say the president accused Republicans of "trying to scare the heck out of the American people" on health care and the economy, according to CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid. Republicans returned the fire -- accusing the White House of playing politics.

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) discussed the exchange during a national radio interview on "The Lars Larson Show." Boehner said that Mr. Obama said Republicans were "scaring" people after the GOP members continued to press the president about his "job-killing policies."

"It was breathtaking," Boehner said of the president's comment.

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** Democrats strike a deal on health care...

** Obama looks to past Nobel Peace Prize winners for inspiration for his speech...

** Martha Coakley gets the Democratic nomination for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat...

HEALTH CARE: "Senate Democrats reached what Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called a 'broad agreement' Tuesday night that could remove a major obstacle to the massive healthcare bill," report the Los Angeles Times' Janet Hook and Noam N. Levey.

"Under the compromise developed by a group of conservative and liberal Democrats, the Senate legislation would no longer include a new government-run insurance program, or 'public option,' for Americans who do not get coverage through their employers.

"Instead, the government would essentially contract with a nonprofit insurer to provide a nationwide plan that would serve as the public option, according to officials briefed on the discussions. Combined with a vote earlier in the day that rejected efforts to tighten restrictions on public money for abortion, the compromise kept the Senate moving toward Reid's goal of voting on the healthcare bill before Christmas.

"Reid's office issued a statement saying he was 'confident' that he could sell the plan to the Democratic caucus. 'This has been a long journey,' he said. 'We have confronted many hurdles, and tonight I believe we have overcome yet another one.'"

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Republicans in Congress came out swinging today against President Obama's new new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals, calling for completely different measures to revive the economy.

"Clearly, the president is trying, yet again, to get Americans back to work... he essentially announced a 'stimulus II' program," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) said at a press conference today, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports. However, he added, "I absolutely disagree that we can spend the way out of recession."

Cantor was joined by freshman Republican members of the House today to criticize Mr. Obama's plan. They said it would be more effective to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, permanently eliminate the death tax, pass free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, and to reduce the deficit.

The president's proposals today included new spending for infrastructure projects like highways, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives for energy-efficient home improvements.

"Instead of passing another big spending bill, we should keep government out of business, keep taxes low and expand trade," said Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kansas). "It's time to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses instead of the federal government."

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Democrats in the House reacted positively to President Obama's job speech today at the Brookings Institution.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that House Democrats will work with the president to put "Americans to work building a 21st century infrastructure and making our homes more energy efficient, ensuring that small business owners gain easier access to capital and credit, and helping to keep teachers, police, and firefighters on the job in our communities."

At Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's weekly meeting with reporters this morning, he said that it is more important to do a jobs bill right than fast, but that it needs to be done soon. Hoyer said doing it in the next 10 days is not essential, but said 30 to 40 days from now is more realistic.

Exact details of the package, and the price tag, are still under negotiation, though it is expected to include money for infrastructure, tax cuts and credits for small businesses and credits for homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient. Hoyer said figures ranging from $75 billion to $150 billion have been discussed.

What will come to the floor, however, before the House leaves for the holidays is an extension of unemployment insurance and subsidies to help the unemployed purchase COBRA health insurance.

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Updated 1:26 p.m. ET

Below is the transcript of President Obama's speech on the economy and job creation ideas, as delivered at the Brookings Institution in Washington and released by the White House:

Thank you so much, Strobe, for your extraordinary leadership here at Brookings, and thanks to all of you in attendance.

Almost exactly one year ago, on a frigid winter's day, I met with my new economic team at the headquarters of my presidential transition offices in Chicago. And over the course of four hours, my advisors presented an analysis of where the economy at that time stood, accompanied by a chilling set of charts and graphs, predicting where we might end up. It was an unforgettable series of presentations.

Christy Romer -- who's here today -- tapped to head the Council of Economic Advisers, as well as Larry Summers, who I'd chosen to head the National Economic Council, described an imminent downturn comparable in its severity to almost nothing since the 1930s. Tim Geithner, my incoming Treasury Secretary, reported that the financial system, shaken by the subprime crisis, had halted almost all lending, which in turn threatened to pull the broader economy in a downward spiral. Peter Orszag, my incoming Budget Director, closed out the proceedings with an entirely dismal report on the fiscal health of the country, with growing deficits and debt stretching to the horizon. Having concluded that it was too late for me to request a recount -- (laughter) -- I tasked my team with mapping out a plan to tackle the crisis on all fronts.

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The U.S. unemployment rate fell unexpectedly to 10 percent according jobs numbers released this morning, though the economy still shed 11,000 jobs last month.

The figured were taken as a sign of hope for the economy and heralded by Christina Romer, the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

"Today's employment report was the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the labor market," she said in a statement.

Roemer said that the loss of 11,000 jobs represented a "dramatic improvement from the decline of 597,000 in November 2008 and 741,000 in January 2009."

"It is by far the closest we have been to stable employment since the recession began almost two years ago," added Roemer.

As could be expected, Republicans had a different spin on the new numbers.

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** Obama tries to keep politics out of his economic tour...

** White House gives different stories on Afghanistan withdrawal...

** The Senate finally starts voting on health care amendments...

ECONOMY: Per the White House: Today, "President Obama will kick off his White House to Main Street tour by traveling to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley to speak directly with Allentown families about both their experiences in this economy and their ideas about job creation. ... As part of his visit to the region, President Obama will tour Allentown Metal Works, make local stops in Allentown to visit with local citizens to discuss job creation and deliver remarks to area students, educators, business owners, and members of the community at Lehigh Carbon Community College."

Allentown Morning Call's Brian Callaway, "Of all the stops President Barack Obama is expected to make as his nascent jobs tour arrives in the Lehigh Valley today, perhaps none will be more sobering than his scheduled visit to the Allentown Metal Works -- it employs some of the region's last remaining steelworkers.

"Manufacturing was once the backbone of the Valley's economy, as it was for the nation's economy. Bethlehem Steel alone had more than 31,000 workers at its flagship plant during its heyday.

"'The Steel' is gone now, of course, and the United Steelworkers of America has only about 1,000 members left in the Valley. A relative handful of those workers are employed by Allentown Metal Works -- fewer than before the recession, and far fewer than possible if manufacturing's fortunes rebound."

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Last Christmas season, as the economy fell into a tailspin, Washington filled the stockings of suffering companies — and not always checking whether they'd been naughty or nice.

President Bush offered up $17.4 billion in loans to troubled U.S. automakers, and Congress OK'd the administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of troubled financial institutions (with $1.6 billion of that going to bonuses and perks for bank executives.)

This year, CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer says, Washington is not Santa Claus.

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On CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged" Thursday, House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) had this to say about President Obama's jobs summit: "I know this job summit is happening at the White House. There have been plenty of summits before. I am just hoping this is a little bit more than a photo-op."

He added that Democrats have focused too much on policies such as the stimulus, cap and trade and the card check bill, which Republicans argue are bad for the economy.

Following the broadcast, DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan emailed a response to Cantor's comments.

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Republican Whip Eric Cantor, who introduced his own jobs initiative Wednesday, said he "hopes" the jobs summit hosted by the White House Thursday is more than simply a photo opportunity on "Washington Unplugged" Thursday.

With the backdrop of a 23-year high in the unemployment rate, Cantor told moderator Nancy Cordes, "I know this job summit is happening at the White House. There have been plenty of summits before. I am just hoping this is a little bit more than a photo-op."

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