U.S. President Barack Obama will use a three-day bus tour of Virginia and North Carolina starting Monday to push lawmakers to pass every element of his jobs bill piece by piece.
The bill is languishing in the Senate after being blocked by minority Republicans last week.
By breaking up the plan into individual bills, the White House wants to force Republicans to voice their opposition point by point. It is part of the Obama administration’s strategy of putting the blame for any eventual failure of the president’s economic policies on the Republicans.
During his recorded weekly address Saturday, Mr. Obama said there is no reason Congress should not support the $447 billion jobs bill that he says will return tens of thousands of Americans to the work force.
Mr. Obama’s bus tour is targeting states that were pivotal in his successful 2008 presidential bid. Virginia and North Carolina have traditionally voted for Republican presidential candidates.
The president’s push for the bill comes amid growing frustration among the American public about the economy.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets across the United States inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement, which began on September 17 with a small group of activists accusing what they called “corporate America” of fostering a growing economic divide between the wealthy, and the poor and middle class.