President Obama on Monday chided Senate Republicans for engaging in “pure partisan politics’’by blocking a bill that would offer tax breaks and ease credit to small businesses, and said the measure was necessary to boost hiring and economic growth.
On his first workday back at the White House after a 10-day vacation on Martha’s Vineyard and a trip to New Orleans on Sunday, Mr. Obama addressed the nation’s mounting economic anxieties in brief remarks from the Rose Garden. With the unemployment rate stuck above 9 percent, and the economic recovery all but stalled, he spent part of the morning huddled with his economic advisers.
While he said he and his team were ‘’hard at work in identifying additional measures that could make a difference’’ – including extending middle-class tax cuts that are set to expire this year, investing more in clean energy and in infrastructure rebuilding – the president’s most urgent call was directed at members of Congress, who return to work next week.
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