Obama makes new pitch for latest economic plan

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama made a new pitch for his $50-billion "roads, railways and runways" program Monday, selling his latest economic plan with an emphasis on a key voter concern - the loss of American jobs.

Clogged roads, airways and other infrastructure chip away at worker productivity, Obama said, and the longer the country waits to fix it, "the deeper our competitive edge erodes." He pitched the plan almost entirely in terms of its benefit to the economy. But in a Rose Garden appearance, he also alluded to the politics of the moment, noting the steadfast Republican opposition to most of his current plans.

Earlier in the day, the administration issued a new report estimating the spending program would create middle-class jobs in manufacturing, construction and retail and thereby help boost the economy. More than half of the new jobs would come in construction, a sector where almost one in five workers is out of a job.

First unveiled on Labor Day, the Obama plan figures into the election picture for Democrats, under pressure to show how the economy will improve under the president's continued stewardship, and theirs.

Still, to pass the measure, Obama needs to win support of Republicans, who oppose his suggestions for government spending as a way out of the economic malaise. Republicans in Congress did not signal a change of heart Monday.

If the president were serious about quick passage, said one GOP aide, he would have pushed harder for passage before the Senate left town to campaign for midterm elections.

"Because the November lame-duck session is all booked up, the very earliest the Senate could consider the president's proposal now would be December," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "And that's assuming that the committees could/would want to act in time - a huge 'if.' "

The strategy the president announced on Labor Day included a $50-billion upfront investment as part of a larger six-year plan for the nation's transportation system. He also proposed creation of a National Infrastructure Bank that would leverage private capital and select projects of "regional and national significance." The larger plan would rebuild 150,000 miles of roads, cover the construction and maintenance of 4,000 miles of passenger rail, rehabilitate 150 miles of runways and upgrade the air traffic control system, according to White House documents.