President Obama Hopes to Build Roads, Rails, Runways ... and Jobs

(Sept. 6) -- President Barack Obama made a Labor Day pitch for some $50 billion in new road, rail and airport construction projects with a plan that aims to overhaul national infrastructure spending and jump-start job creation, as well as a campaign season slap at Republicans he accused of obstructing both those goals.

In a speech at an annual holiday festival in Milwaukee, Obama fired up a crowd of union members and their families by outlining an ambitious plan to construct 150,000 miles of new roads, a network of high-speed rail lines and what the White House billed as a next-generation airport system that includes 150 miles of new runways.

But at a time when unemployment has climbed to an official rate of 9.6 percent that belies a much broader epidemic of joblessness, and with the sputtering economy looming as the top issue ahead of midterm congressional elections, employment overshadowed transport as the focus of his speech.

"This will not only create jobs immediately, it's also going to make our economy hum over the long haul," Obama said.

An energized Obama, in shirt sleeves and with a massive American flag rippling in the wind nearby, repeatedly drew cheers and applause as he touted the importance of "union ideas" and the notion that "America cannot have a strong, growing economy without a strong, growing middle class, and the chance for everybody, no matter how humble their beginnings, to join that middle class."

He also repeatedly took jabs at what he described as nay-saying Republicans who "talk about me like a dog."

The speech, launching into the traditional post-Labor Day period of intensified campaigning, follows a summer of hand-wringing at the White House and Federal Reserve over the persistently ailing jobs market.

Since last week Obama had been promising new proposals on how to stimulate hiring, and the White House said today's proposals would be part of a larger package Obama will unveil on Wednesday and put in place without adding to the budget deficit by working with Congress.

But with Republicans now bent on opposing nearly all Obama economic ideas, bipartisan cooperation on the transportation projects seemed unlikely.

"We don't need more government 'stimulus' spending," House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said after Obama spoke. "We need to end Washington Democrats' out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes, and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses."

Democrats and many economists, however, say it was the stimulus spending that prevented the recession from turning into a full-blown depression. And Obama -- who took his own swing at Boehner as "the man who wants to be speaker" -- said it was the investments in new projects that led to the net increase in construction jobs last month, the first growth in construction employment in more than a year.

A report two weeks ago from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said last year's $787 billion stimulus program -- now assailed by Republicans -- has put millions back to work and in the second quarter of 2010 alone was responsible for creating between 1.4 million and 3.3 million new jobs.

But there was clearly as much politics in Obama's speech today as there was economic policy.

"When it comes to just about everything we've done to strengthen the middle class, to rebuild our economy, almost every Republican in Congress says no," Obama said, provoking a chorus of boos at the Milwaukee Area Labor Council Laborfest. "If I said the sky was blue, they say no. If I said fish live in the sea, they'd say no. They just think it's better to score political points before an election than to solve problems."

Still, he said, the six-year plan outlined today would "restore 150 miles of runways and ... advance a next-generation air-traffic control system to reduce travel time and delays for American travelers. I think everybody can agree on that."

If anticipation of such bipartisan agreement this election year seemed overly optimistic, so might the program's goals.

The plan envisions congressional establishment of a national infrastructure bank that would use private, state and local capital to supplement federal spending and pick projects in a way that avoids the "earmarks" members of Congress from both parties have historically used to channel funds to their constituencies.

Past reform efforts aimed at eliminating such earmarks have been a tough sell for lawmakers, Republican and Democrat alike -- and even some conservative tea party favorites -- who often campaign on their ability to bring federal spending home from Washington. A poll out last month from the Pew Research Center indicated 53 percent of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate with a record of delivering earmarks for his or her district.

Another uphill battle is the plan for high-speed rail lines like those that have eased travel and cut traffic in Western Europe and Japan. Previous federal and local high-speed rail ambitions have been foiled by a lack of support for funding.

Technically the plan, as explained by the White House, would transform federal transportation policy legislation periodically renewed by Congress into a new long-term framework that streamlines and consolidates 100 existing programs. It would also include establishment of a performance-based "race-to-the-top" style competition for new projects, the White House said.