Obama takes jobs fight to Boehner's backyard #p2 #tcot @gop

from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64181.html

President Barack Obama on Thursday took his push to sell his jobs plan to the foot of a bridge spanning from Ohio to Kentucky, jabbing two top congressional Republicans on their home turf while touting a proposal the White House says will strengthen the economy in part by repairing crumbling infrastructure. Speaking at the foot of the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati, the president again called on Congress to pass his $447 billion proposal, the American Jobs Act, and took aim at his sparring partners, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). "The bridge behind us just so happens to connect the state that's home to the Speaker of the House with the state that's home to the Minority Leader of the Senate," Obama said to boos from the crowd assembled along the Ohio River. "Now, that's just a coincidence. Purely accidental, that that happened. But part of the reason I came here is because Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell are the two most powerful Republicans in government. They can either kill this jobs bill, or they can help us pass it." When Obama started selling his jobs bill this month, he made sweeping statements calling on all of Congress to pass it. But on Thursday, as he mentioned Boehner and McConnell by name, he continued the sharper rhetoric he adopted on Monday during a Rose Garden speech on deficit reduction. The Brent Spence Bridge lies just south of the western Ohio district that Boehner represents and crosses the Ohio River into McConnell's home state. "I know these men care about their states," the president said. "And I can't imagine that the speaker wants to represent a state where nearly one in four bridges is classified as substandard." The Federal Highway Administration considers 34 percent of bridges in Kentucky to be "structurally deficient" (requires repair) or "functionally obsolete" (too outdated to handle traffic flow). In Ohio, 27 percent of bridges fall under those two categories. The Brent Spence Bridge is classified as "functionally obsolete," but Obama stressed that "it's safe to drive on." Obama first mentioned the Brent Spence Bridge earlier this month during his speech to a joint session of Congress to launch the American Jobs Act. "There's a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America," the president said. Within 24 hours of that speech, another bridge traversing the Ohio River was shut down after cracks were found in steel support beams. The Sherman Minton Bridge, connecting Kentucky to southern Indiana, has been closed for nearly two weeks as crews scan the structure for more cracks. It could take up to two years to fix the structure, which carried more than 50,000 cars a day. "I know that when Senator McConnell visited the closed bridge in Kentucky, he said that 'roads and bridges are not partisan in Washington,'" Obama said, referring to the Sherman Minton Bridge. "I know that Paul Ryan, the Republican in charge of the budget process, recently said you can't deny that 'infrastructure does create jobs.'" The closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge, 137 miles down river from the site of Obama's speech, has been an "economic catastrophe," Kerry Stemler, co-chairman of the Ohio River Bridges Authority, said in an interview. "This is the kind of project our federal government should get behind and do everything it can to help," Stemler said. "Less than two hours away from where [Obama] is today is a serious crisis." Obama told the crowd at the Brent Spence Bridge that "there's no reason for Republicans in Congress to stand in the way of more construction projects. There's no reason to stand in the way of more jobs. Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, help us rebuild this bridge. Help us rebuild America. Help us put this country back to work. Pass this jobs bill right away." Spokesmen for McConnell and Boehner told POLITICO that they were invited to the event but turned down the offer because both chambers were in session Thursday. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) joined Obama at the event and on Air Force One. While Obama assailed Republicans for playing politics with his jobs plan, the president's staff acknowledged the political nature of his own trip — and their hope that he will benefit from it. "The point here is that it's not an accident that we're headed to that area," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer told The Associated Press this week. "All across those states there are roads, bridges, schools that unemployed construction workers could be building right now if the Republican leaders in Congress were willing to work with the president and the Democrats to do something that would create jobs in the economy." But Obama's critics are using his trip to the Brent Spence Bridge as yet another reason to oppose the legislation. On the Senate floor, McConnell scoffed, "I would suggest, Mr. President, that you think about ways to actually help the people of Kentucky and Ohio, instead of how you can use their roads and bridges as a backdrop for making a political point." The White House's choice of the Brent Spence Bridge also received some criticism as reports emerged this week suggesting that construction work on the bridge might not begin until 2015. White House press secretary Jay Carney said the bridge was chosen because it is "symbolic and representative of crumbling infrastructure across the country.'' Should the jobs bill pass, he said,"we could speed up the process of environmental and other approvals on this specific bridge.'' In 1995, engineers sounded the alarm that the bridge to be replaced by 2007. And a 2003 Cincinnati Enquirer investigation found that bridge's conditions were so dangerous, drivers were five times more likely to have a accident on the bridge than on the interstate highways of Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana.

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