Obama Tells Voters To Pressure Congress Over Economy

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is calling on frustrated voters to tell Congress they're sick of gridlock and partisanship and want to see compromise to boost the faltering economy and create jobs.

The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to try to position himself on the side of the public and against a Congress with abysmal approval ratings in the wake of the bitter partisan bickering over the debt.

Obama's approval ratings aren't so good either, but the president clearly sees a need to direct the public's anger at Washington toward lawmakers in Congress – or risk being its target himself as the 2012 presidential campaign season opens.

"You've got a right to be frustrated," the president said. "I am. Because you deserve better. I don't think it's too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering."

"Members of Congress are at home in their districts right now. 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."

The president listed several initiatives he's been calling on Congress to pass – among them free trade pacts, measures to improve the patent system and an extension of a cut in the tax that workers pay to fund Social Security – and told voters to add their voice to his to push lawmakers to get it done.

"These are all things we can do right now. So let's do them," said Obama, who will repeat his economic message during a three-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday.

"And over the coming weeks, I'll put forward more proposals to help our businesses hire and create jobs, and won't stop until every American who wants a job can find one," said the president, without detailing specifics on what might be forthcoming.

Republicans used their weekly address to criticize Obama on the economy, particularly government regulations that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said were overly burdensome and therefore discouraging businesses from expanding and hiring.

"Clearly, the policies of this administration are not working," said Toomey, who is one of the lawmakers newly appointed to a congressional supercommittee charged with coming up with recommendations to cut the debt. "So, what went wrong? Well, a big part of the problem has been job-killing regulations."

"Every day, small business owners, job creators and entrepreneurs are bombarded with new regulations and higher costs, discouraging these employers from expanding their businesses and hiring additional workers," he said.

Toomey said that America can still thrive, "but first, government has to get out of the way" – starting with eliminating harmful regulations like Obama's health care bill.

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Comments

[dan laurie]

10:29 PM on 08/19/2011

Obama is asking VOTERS to pressure Congress? That's fine and good, but we are not at the mythical "table." He is. I am so tired of this guy sloughing off any FIGHTING that needs to be done onto others. He needs to start fighting or get out of the ring. And quickly, please! So we have the chance at another choice.

[dan laurie]

03:02 PM on 08/18/2011

YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN CONGRESS?????????? Everyone and their pet duck knows that the Republicans are blocking everything that can help the Country. If you blame the democrats you need to leave ASAP....You arent the adult in the room you are the weak one who never learned how to be any kind of an executive.How dare you blame the democrats. The AMERICAN PEOPLE KNOW BETTER WHY DONT YOU.

[Napoleon3]

05:44 PM on 08/17/2011

I think we know Obamas election platform.
Congress fault (forget 2 years he had control); Bush got us here in 8- I need 8 to get us out; Earthquake in Japan hurt our economy.

Good luck Dems with that.

[bjwtaylor]

10:30 AM on 08/17/2011

"President Barack Obama is calling on frustrated voters to tell Congress they're sick of gridlock and partisanship and want to see compromise to boost the faltering economy and create jobs."

I've been doing that - minus the crucially wrong word "compromise" - for three years. And for the last 2.5 years I've been getting the same response from my Senators and rep that I get from my President - zip, zero, nada, nothing.

If Obama wants the people to fight for his proposals with their congressmen, he needs to give them some proposals worth fighting for and show that he will fight for them himself.

Obama is like the general who tells the troops, "I am going to give most of our territory that you already fought so hard to win to the enemy before battle begins, and I don't have a battle plan or solid objectives. But you troops engage in battle and fight hard while I go back to the States on leave."

That's Obama's idea of the kind of leadership that gets the troops stirred up to greatness?

The president couldn't lead a Cub Scout troop. He should go on leave forever. Now, before the people put him out and the progressive cause, the people's cause, is lost.

[Garyatty10]

12:57 PM on 08/15/2011

I am an Obama supporter but he needs to fire the people advising him. Mr. President we elected you to pressure Congress and stand up to them but instead you ceded power to them and it has made you vulnerable in 2012. You let Congress write the stimulus bill, you let Congress write the healthcare bill and both had flaws which now you get the blame. We elected you to lead because Congress is corrupt and owned by Corporate america. So stop the bus tour, go back to the White House, bring in a new economic team and write a Bold jobs plan and demand that Congress pass it. Even if they don't you will show voters that you are fighting for them instead of the monied interest.

[dan laurie]

03:25 PM on 08/18/2011

Obamas biggest problem is he lacks executive skills and experience. He didnt bring an agenda in nor did he fight for what he said he wanted. He hob nobed with the repubs and ignored the issues and agenda that most of the dems wanted...after he lost the house because early in he could have cut the tax cuts for the rich....He didnt.Once he lost the house and before he allowed himself to be held hostage which is extremely demeaning.Three times he allowed himself to be held hostage.We wanted a strong President not someone who keeps playing prisoner to punks.

[dan laurie]

10:25 PM on 08/19/2011

I have NEVER seen a President, any President, who has not proposed his own legislative agbenda. It is SHOCKING that Obama didn't. And he did not even MEET with the public option advocates in his own party -- just with the pharma companies. And which advisers should he fire, exactly? The very ones he shockingly HIRED in the first place? Like Timothy Geithner to fix the economy? Or Steven Chu for Evergy who is beholden for huge amounts of grant money from BP? I too am an angry Democrat and I would say that it's on HIM, it's on HIM, and again, it's on HIM! This is one passive-aggressive craphead. The person he needs to fire is HIMSELF so someone who is actually a Democrat can step in in time. I'm furious not to have another choice.

[Bystander]

11:15 AM on 08/15/2011

BO's job approval rating is now below 40%. I think he will be able to drive it even lower. "Yes we can!"

[p c r]

02:44 PM on 08/15/2011

Actually, Rasmussen (a right wing poll) has him at 44%. His approval is more than twice that of the TP GOP Congress.

[Bystander]

08:37 PM on 08/15/2011

BO's numbers will continue to slide...in all polls. "Yes we can!"

[dan laurie]

10:26 PM on 08/19/2011

And what's the new campaign slogan? "Vote for me, I'm better than the guys who are even worse"?

[dan laurie]

03:18 PM on 08/18/2011

Yes it is very sad that the president is blaming Congress.While everyone knows that the main thing the repubs want is to make sure Obama is one term president even if it takes sending the world over the proverbial cliff..The dems are trying their hardest without the agreement of the repubs little can be done. If we cant live together we may well die together..Obama is trying to remain the"Adult in the room." Sorry if he goes after Congress he is missing the boat. The Truth is the American people know what the party of No have done especially the t baggers.
When Obama came in we were hoping he would be another FDR..He looks now like another Harding.We must see whatever he can do on his own to fix this disaster..Before we and europe and the whole world might end up in a pit.We want to see a strong bill to put our people back to work on the sinking infra structure. That would put millions back to work. Without
that we could see food riots martial law and disaster...

[Bystander]

11:39 AM on 08/19/2011

Many of us want to Obama to be a one-term president because he has not demonstrated the leadership or the competence this country needs. More generally, the reckless liberalism practiced by Dems and Repubs alike has led us to where we are today, saddled with big debt and a bloated, inefficient, wasteful, ineffective and overreaching govenment that thwarts the free enterprise system, substituting instead a regime of dependency that has weakened the economic and moral fiber of the country. Obama is hardly the "adult in the room" that you suggest. He's a campaigner, not a commander.

[oliviainit]

10:25 AM on 08/15/2011

Hey Huffington Post, why is this on the Blackvoices page? I am white and always listen to what the President has to say. Is he not the President of the United States of America? Is he not the President of ALL Americans, white,black,brown? Why have you segregated him?

Do you have a special page for, Rick (Bush on steroids) Perry or Michele (Delusion on steroids) Bachmann? Would that be a page titled " Whitevoices Dooming America".

[pickles n pops]

03:57 PM on 08/15/2011

The whole AOL partitioning by race, creed, color, gender thing is a bad idea. Next, they'll have a section for the rich, and one for the poor. If that succeeds, look for a Top 2 pct section, and another one for those on food stamps.

[SangZe]

10:03 AM on 08/15/2011

If only Obama listened to the people who elected him and had a plan. Sadly, the man only thinks of people as voters, robots to be manipulated. He doesn't even realize it's too late, that his lack of enthusiasm for his job has led to its failure.

[marshallwyattearp]

10:39 AM on 08/15/2011

Obama said he had a plan, when he was running. However, all he talked about was more government and joining a World community. He seems to have partly accomplished that... we are economically screwed, like the rest of the world. He soldhis soul, and started selling us out. Now everyone is going to pay, because he can't make good on his promise of getting us to lie down. Too many Citizens woke up.

Now something needs to be done about Clinto, Pelosi, and Reid.

[Robert SF]

08:51 AM on 08/15/2011

"President Barack Obama is calling on frustrated voters to tell Congress they're sick of gridlock and partisanship and want to see compromise . . ."
===

No, we don't want to see compromise. Losing just half of our social security instead of all of it is not an acceptable deal. What we want is to see the President at least make a show of attempting to fulfill his campaign promises. But since corporate money seems to have broken his integrity, it doesn't look like that will happen.

If only there were a primary challenger.

[epiphany24]

11:59 AM on 08/15/2011

I'm sorry but..you are not speaking facts

There is absolutely no compromise in which we "lose half of our social security". The budget talks were deadlocked and the president successfully compromised a supercommitee that, if it fails to reach an agreement, will trigger HUGE CUTS IN DEFENSE as well as cuts to medicare PROVIDERS (that's right..like those scooter store commercials).

This is the problem. People not knowing or understanding what is happening...

[ClintBMD]

01:33 PM on 08/15/2011

There was no need to bargain during the debt ceiling debate at all, and Obama could have pointed that out at the onset. No. He chose to embrace negotiations, and HE offered up Social Security and Medicare - not the Republicans. Did he offer up half of Social Security? No, but the Republicans wanted more and failed. Had they taken his offer, he most surely would have given up half of Social Security, because that's how he bargains.

[p c r]

02:46 PM on 08/15/2011

There is nothing saying we will lose half of our SS. The GOP wants to privatize it, which will result in losing it all due to market fluctuations based on their refusal to compromise. The Dems want to continue it as promised.

[datngro]

08:11 AM on 08/15/2011

Damn, this new format is WHACK!!

[marshallwyattearp]

04:03 AM on 08/15/2011

Well, I'm telling the people to call for an Impeachment of Obama... He is the one that more than doubled the National Debt by giving Trillions to Corporations, Unions, and Special Interest Groups, some of which owed Millions in back taxes.
AND Obama's unconstitutional policies...

http://es-la.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=139546192730429&topic=120

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Cat9/health-care-law-individual-mandate-ruling_n_925507_102449550.html

http://www.exposeobama.com/2011/07/05/is-obama-impeachable-let-me-count-the-ways/

Where are the people watching the white house, as they did with the last administration?

[Robert SF]

08:52 AM on 08/15/2011

You might want to arm yourself with better numbers. Obama most certainly did not double the national debt. No, he did not.

[marshallwyattearp]

11:01 AM on 08/15/2011

http://biggovernment.com/waysandmeans/2011/07/27/obama-more-than-twice-the-debt-in-half-the-time-as-bush/

http://www.examiner.com/right-side-politics-in-national/democrats-on-track-to-double-national-debt-by-2010

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-budget-nearly-double-national-debt

http://www.investorsinsight.com/blogs/forecasts_trends/archive/2009/06/16/obama-on-course-to-double-national-debt.aspx

You might not think so... How ever if you look at the facts, regulations, taxes, loss of jobs of substance, what he did to the trucking, oil, and maunfacturing industries...
giving trillions to

http://thespeechatimeforchoosing.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/16-trillion-reasons-why-everyone-in-washington-including-the-president-should-be-heading-to-prison/

Just like in the State of Illinois.... Obama has done nothing wrong

[Garyatty10]

12:50 PM on 08/15/2011

You are delusional

[Shelly Mace]

03:45 AM on 08/15/2011

i think repubs don't like there own mothers, that is if their even human, by the way what the heck are they anyway. oh the evil doer's

[prettyinpink]

02:12 PM on 08/15/2011

Yes, but just like your mother they agree with "eating your peas" and thus cutting spending.

[Shelly Mace]

11:57 PM on 08/15/2011

no no my mother is never evil, she loves all. Sorry can't say that about all mothers, just take a peek into the past. smells like chickens

[mahendra sarthi]

01:52 AM on 08/15/2011

its nice

MTECH COMPUTER

[pleasantlyny]

08:42 PM on 08/14/2011

Mr. President. America has the congress that america elected. And there is a good chance that a new president will take your place becasue america as a whole is stupid.

Your leading competition is anti-education, science and common man. A really bad mix.

[PopsinAZ]

11:22 PM on 08/14/2011

Because "America as a whole is stupid" we voted for Obama in 2008. Leading competitors are NOT anti-education, science and common man............THEY are ANTI-OBAMA!!

[pleasantlyny]

11:55 PM on 08/14/2011

If you slow down and look at them they are.

Education is not stressed. I mean we spent 2 years with Palin in the spotlight.... She has failed to even graduate two kids from high school and both of them had children out of wedlock, she needed 6 schools in 5 years AND she cant string a sentence togeather *u betcha*.

Then we get Ms. Federal Gran, Bailout, foster kid check, farm subsidie and stimulus fund seeker who all ofa sudden hates the federal government. Go figure.

You also have santorum who thinks the earth is 6000 yrs old and does not believe in global climate change.

And Perry. Mr. Cut education cut cut cut cut cut

Obama is the best thing that happened to this country in a long long time. Its unfortunate things were so bad when he came into office.

[marshallwyattearp]

11:06 AM on 08/15/2011

You may have voted for him... I was trying to warn people that he was a liar, and going to sell us down the river...

I dealt with him directly, or atleast tried, while he was the senator of Illinois. He was a joke, and caused the states demise, pushing his social policies, killing small business, and padding the pockets of large corporations with unions.

The media lied and covered up what he was really about... and that's noit mentioning how many of his good friends(that he was dealing with) have gone to jail.

[Barry Harper]

07:56 PM on 08/14/2011

Until we put campaign reforms in place ,and limits on contributions to these candidates ,they'll only work for the highest bider while the rest of the country goes in the tank. We also need term limits on all offices at once , because they no sooner get in to office they're campaigning for the next for more lobby money ....