The White House turned up the rhetorical heat on House Republicans Tuesday over passing the jobs bill, at one point asking Congress “what on earth are we waiting for?”
During a speech at a newly renovated high school in Speaker John Boehner’s home state of Ohio, President Obama called out some House Republicans for pushing their leaders not to pass any of elements of the package in order to deny President Obama a political “win.”
“I’ve heard people say that even if Republicans believe in proposals in the bill, they shouldn’t pass it because it would give me a win,” he said. “This isn’t about giving me a win. This isn’t about giving Republicans or Democrats a win. It’s about giving the American people a win.”
“Maybe some politicians want to settle our differences at the ballot box,” he continued. “But I’ve got news from them: The next election is 14 months away. The American people can’t wait that long.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney Tuesday told reporters traveling with the President to Ohio on Air Force One that Republicans would have “a lot of explaining to do” to the American people if they don’t do anything to boost job creation by the end of the year.
Carney also said Obama would be forced to accept a piecemeal approach to his jobs plan if House Republicans continue to refuse to vote for the entire package, the Associated Press reported.
“If Congress were to send a portion of the American Jobs Act, the President would of course not veto it. He would sign it,” Carney said. “Then he would return to press Congress to get the rest of the job done.”
Earlier Tuesday, however, Obama’s senior campaign advisor David Axelrod told ABC’s Good Morning America that they’re still pushing Congress to accept the entire package as a whole.
“We’re not in a negotiation to break up the package,” he said. “It’s not an a la carte menu.”
During his speech in Ohio, Obama, in full campaign mode, hammered some of the same key phrases and applause lines from his jobs speech to Congress last Thursday.
“We can get to a place that is creating middle class jobs again…if we can finally get our act together in Washington,” he said. “If we can get people in that city to stop worrying about their jobs and start worrying about your jobs.”
Obama also highlighted the $25 billion school renovation piece of his jobs plan, delivering the speech at Ft. Hayes High School, which had just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation.
But Republicans in Congress already have soundly rejected the school renovation portion of Obama’s plan, especially after discovering yesterday that he planned to fund the entire package mainly through increasing tax cuts on the rich and businesses.
Ohio GOP Party chairman, Kevin DeWine, told the AP that Obama has lost credibility about jobs promises in his state.
“The real question here is, should Ohioans believe the economically incompetent president from 2010, or the campaigner-in-chief of 2011?” he reportedly said.
The speech in Ohio follows the President’s trip last week to Richmond, Va. The President also plans to visit North Carolina on Wednesday. All three are GOP-leaning states that Obama captured in 2008, and he desperately wants a repeat performance in all three in 2012.
