Obama Promises 'Very Specific' Plan for US Economy

During Mr Obama's stop in Decorah, he clashed with a local leader of the conservative Tea Party, Ryan Rhodes

 President Obama has promised a "very specific" plan next month to improve the flagging US economy. In Iowa on day one of a rural Midwest bus tour, he said he would put forward the blueprint when Congress returned in September. As President Obama spoke, his would-be 2012 Republican challengers blamed him for the flagging American economy.

With US unemployment jammed at just above 9%, jobs could well remain a major issue for voters in 2012.Responding to a question in a town hall in Decorah, Iowa, on Monday evening, Mr Obama said: "I'll be putting forward when they [lawmakers] come back in September a very specific plan to boost the economy, to create jobs and to control our deficit.  "And my attitude is - get it done."

Mr Obama set off on Monday morning on a three-day swing through Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. President Obama clashed with a member of the Tea Party in Iowa The tour - in an imposing Secret Service armoured bus - is officially a White House event, although Republicans called it a campaign trip.  Mr Obama is trying to reassert his leadership and, indirectly, shore up support in states that could make or break his campaign for a second term.

During Mr Obama's stop in Decorah, he clashed with a local leader of the conservative Tea Party, Ryan Rhodes. Mr Rhodes referred to reports that Vice-President Joe Biden had likened Tea Party members during recent debt-ceiling negotiations to terrorists.
Mr Obama replied: "In fairness, since I have been called a socialist who wasn't born in this country, who is destroying America and taking away its freedoms because I passed a health care bill, I am all for lowering the rhetoric."

Mr Obama's approval rating dipped below 40% for the first time in a Gallup daily tracking poll on Sunday, although recent polls have shown far lower voter satisfaction with Congress. Analysts say Mr Obama's challenge is to convince voters that his policies - including a $787bn (£482bn) economic stimulus package and health care reforms - have helped the economy, not hindered it.

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney labelled Mr Obama's trip the "Magical Misery bus tour". The former Massachusetts governor said in a statement the president was "more interested in campaigning in swing states than working to solve the economic crisis crushing the middle class".
Obama gets opposition at every turn and no credit for effort. Remember, he inherited this mess; he didn't create it. He doesn't even get the respect for his office that  George Bush and Bill Clinton got and they were no prizes. Are we ready to admit it has something to do with his color?