Obama plans major economic speech Thursday

Obama plans major economic speech Thursday

Jun 13, 2012
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
President Obama will seek to draw economic contrasts with Republican opponent Mitt Romney in what campaign aides are billing as a major speech on Thursday.

In announcing the address at a community college in Cleveland, the Obama campaign said the president will describe his vision as "ensuring that our economy is built to last and restoring economic security for the middle class."

Obama also plans to condemn Romney's vision, which the campaign said is "based on the same failed economic policies that brought on the worst crisis since the Great Depression.

"Romney Economics is familiar and troubling," said the Obama campaign. "More budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy; fewer rules for Wall Street -- the same formula that benefited a few, but that crashed our economy and devastated the middle class."

Obama is not expected to unveil any new policy proposals of his own; the president is still trying to persuade Congress to adopt elements of a jobs bill he proposed last year.

The Republican National Committee has already put out a video responding to tomorrow's "economic framing speech."

Entitled "Lost Cause," the video claims Obama quickly lost interest in the most important economic issue: Jobs.

"Even though he claimed to be focused on jobs, Obama instead spent his time making it harder for job creators by passing Obamacare, more regulation and pushing for higher taxes," said the RNC in a statement.