Obama Touts New Small Business Tax Credit

President Barack Obama says his administration has "stopped the flood of job losses," but much more needs to be done to help the millions of people still out of work.

Appearing Friday at Chesapeake Machine Co. in Baltimore, Obama put in a pitch for legislation he is seeking from Congress to provide tax breaks for small businesses that hire additional workers.

Obama said, "It's time to put Americans back to work." At the same, he said that "we've got a long way to go to make up for the millions of jobs lost this recession." He said a new report showing the economy grew at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the last quarter an encouraging development. The president said he would take unpopular steps, if necessary, to get the economy going again.

Obama's proposal, which would need congressional approval, would give companies a $5,000 tax credit for each net new worker they hire in 2010 and provide other incentives for businesses to increase workers' hours and wages. A cap would be set on the amount a company could reap from the program, a feature intended to tailor it more to small businesses than large corporations.

Obama first promoted the idea of a tax credit for adding workers late last year. But House Democrats omitted it from a jobs bill they passed in December because of doubts about how to make the credit work.

Some Republicans said they have similar concerns.

"From a policy perspective, it's very difficult to make it work," said House Minority Leader John Boehner, a Republican.