WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States faces a “national crisis” with an economy that has stalled and urged Congress to act quickly on a job-creation plan he is proposing.
In excerpts of a speech he will deliver at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT), Obama said politicians in Washington must “stop the circus and actually do something to help the economy.”
He said his jobs plan would cut taxes for workers and businesses and employ more construction workers and teachers.
“It will provide a jolt to an economy that has stalled and give companies confidence that if they invest and hire there will be customers for their products and services. You should pass this jobs plan right away,” he said.
(Reporting by Caren Bohan, Laura MacInnis, Alister Bull and Jeff Mason; Editing by John O’Callaghan)