Obama Tells Americans to Urge Congress to Do More on Economy

 
President Barack Obama said Americans should contact their members of Congress during the August legislative recess and pressure them to pass legislation “to get more money back in your pockets.”
In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said that partisanship and gridlock have “undermined public confidence and hindered our efforts to grow the economy,” adding “there are things Congress can do” to help. He reiterated his call for lawmakers to extend the temporary payroll tax cut, fund projects to employ construction workers and pass stalled trade deals.
Obama’s address is being released two days before his Aug. 15-17 rural economy bus tour through Midwestern states. He repeated themes from his Aug. 11 visit to a battery plant in Holland, Michigan, where he said that the downgrade of U.S. credit by Standard & Poor’s was a “self-inflicted wound” resulting from “partisan brinksmanship.”
“Members of Congress are at home in their districts right now,” Obama said in the address. “And if you agree with me -- whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or not much of a fan of either -- let them know.”
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said in the weekly Republican address that Obama inherited a weak economy when he took office in 2009, “but by nearly every measure he has made the economy worse.” Toomey said lawmakers should repeal Obama administration laws and regulations to create a more appealing climate for businesses.

On Debt Committee

Toomey is one of three Senate Republicans named to the special bipartisan congressional committee tasked with finding an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by year’s end as part of the deal Obama signed on Aug. 2 to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
Toomey, in the Republican radio and Internet response, said that “job-killing regulations” are contributing to unemployment, gas prices and weaker home values and wages. He called for the repeal of Obama’s health-care legislation that expands coverage. Toomey also promoted legislation by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin to limit new federal regulations unless unemployment falls below 7.7 percent.
Toomey also said that in his role on the special committee he wants a proposal “that will reduce government spending and help create an environment where entrepreneurs can thrive.”
If a simple majority of the panel doesn’t agree to reductions by the end of the year, $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts will be triggered over a decade, starting in 2013, equally targeting defense and non-defense programs.