Obama casts Congress as the problem, tells Americans to 'let them know'

President Barack Obama says people are frustrated by the partisanship that has gridlocked Washington and he wants them to tell lawmakers they must compromise for the sake of the country.


The president used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to try to position himself on the side of the public and against a Congress with abysmal approval ratings after the bitter fight over increasing the nation’s borrowing limit.


Obama’s approval ratings aren’t so good either. But the president clearly sees a need to direct the public’s anger toward Congress or risk being the target himself as the 2012 campaign revs up.


“You’ve got a right to be frustrated,” the president said. “I am. Because you deserve better. I don’t think it’s too much for you to expect that the people you send to this town start delivering.


Members of Congress are at home in their districts right now. And if you agree with me — whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or not much of a fan of either — let them know.”


The president listed several initiatives he’s pushing, including trade deals, improvements to the patent system and extension of a cut in the tax that workers pay to fund Social Security.


“These are all things we can do right now. So let’s do them,” said Obama, who will repeat his economic message during a three-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday.


Republicans used their weekly address to criticize Obama on the economy, particularly government regulations that Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said burdened businesses and discouraged them from expanding and hiring.


The statement echoed a recent call by Obama for Americans to support his debt-ceiling position by communicating directly with their representatives in Congress.


Such tactics can sometimes help a president lead the way, going over the heads of Congress to enlist popular support. And defenders of Obama say he has shown greater willingness to compromise on the nation's fiscal problems than the Republicans who now control the House of Representatives.


Amid the debate over raising the nation's debt ceiling, the White House positioned itself as ready to pursue entitlement reforms, if Republicans would agree to some tax-revenue hikes as part of a plan to curb future federal deficits. Republicans wouldn't budge on tax revenues.


But Obama has critics who say he has failed to lead from the center, at a time when the nation needs to find a bipartisan path to fiscal restructuring. When Obama laments gridlock, many Americans respond, "We know that's the problem. We thought we were sending you to Washington to help fix it."


The president met with corporate CEOs on Friday, but many business leaders see Obama's regulatory and tax policies (his oft-repeated goal is to garner more revenue from the rich) as unfriendly to job creation.


Obama says he's pitching bipartisan ideas to create jobs, including free-trade deals with other nations and patent reform that could help spur entrepreneurship. "Over the coming weeks, I’ll put forward more proposals to help our businesses hire and create jobs," he said in the Saturday address.


But over the coming weeks, Obama and Republicans may also be moving increasingly into campaign mode for 2012. Obama will be on a bus tour of battleground states this coming week, and his radio address coincided with a flurry of activity among GOP candidates at the Iowa straw poll.