Insisting there is “nothing radical” in his just-unveiled $447 billion jobs plan, President Obama hit the road on Friday to sell the proposal to students at the University of Richmond, asking them to pressure lawmakers to support the package of tax cuts and additional stimulus spending.
There’s “nothing radical in this bill. Everything in it will put more people back to work and more money back into the pockets of those who are working,” Mr. Obama told the crowd in a speech that closely mirrored his Thursday night address to a joint session of Congress. “To make it happen, every one of your voices can make a difference.”
Indeed, the president urged his young audience to take to the Web, post messages on Facebook or even “send a carrier pigeon,” calling on their representatives to back his plan.
As he did Thursday, Mr. Obama promised the bill — a mix of tax cuts, aid to states and local government and additional spending on infrastructure projects — would be paid for but stopped short of detailing cuts or revenue increases that would offset it.
“We spent a whole summer fussing about the deficit and it is legitimate of us to get a government that lives within its means,” he said. “But we always lived based on the principle that everybody’s got to do their fair share. And we’ve got to make some choices.”
The president has said he plans to lay out a detailed deficit-reduction plan next week.
• Kara Rowland can be reached at krowland@washingtontimes.com.
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