President vows to be 'warrior' for middle class

Obama pushes jobs act at Ohio River bridge

In yesterday's speech in Cincinnati, the President singled out the Brent-Spence Bridge that spans the Ohio River as an example of many in the nation in desperate need of repair or replacement.

CINCINNATI -- President Obama yesterday vowed to be a "warrior" for the average American if, as his Republican critics contend, his policies amount to class warfare.

"You know what? If asking a billionaire to pay their fair share of taxes, to pay the same tax rate as a plumber, is class warfare, then, you know what, I'm a warrior for the middle class," he said to cheers from a Cincinnati crowd.

"The only warfare I've seen is the battle against the middle class over the last 10, 15 years," Mr. Obama said.

The President's visit was his second to Ohio in nine days to promote his $447 billion American Jobs Act proposal that, among other things, would invest in infrastructure improvements to bridges, highways, rail, airports, schools, and foreclosed and abandoned homes in an attempt to jump start a sluggish construction industry.

Mr. Obama spoke for just 21 minutes at a riverfront concrete plant with his back to the 48-year-old, double-decker Brent Spence Bridge that carries both I-71 and I-75 -- among the busiest arteries in the nation -- over the Ohio River. He was joined by his secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, and U.S. Rep. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), although neither appeared with him on stage.

In his speeches, Mr. Obama has held the steel and concrete bridge out as an example of many in the nation in desperate need of repair or replacement but have been short of the funds to make it happen.

But the visit also was about building a bridge between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and sending a message to two specific lawmakers whose home states lie on both ends of the Brent Spence -- House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).

"Purely accidental that that happened,'' Mr. Obama said with a smile.

"They can either kill this jobs bill or pass this jobs bill. … I can't imagine that the speaker wants to represent a state where one in four bridges is considered substandard. One in four."

In addition to the infrastructure spending, his proposal to "rebuild America'' offers payroll tax cuts for individuals and businesses and new spending for local governments and unemployment benefits.

Ohio would be expected to draw about $3.6 billion from the spending side of that equation.

The package specifically proposes $50 billion nationally for highway, transit, rail, and aviation infrastructure improvements. Ohio's share would be an estimated $1.1 billion that the White House contends would support an estimated 13,700 jobs.

"Another aging bridge that crosses the Ohio River at Ironton could be replaced right now," Mr. Obama said. "There are rail stations in Cleveland and Toledo in desperate need of repair. The same is true in cities all across America. It makes our commute longer and costs businesses billions of dollars."

Traffic routinely backs up at the bridge, which carries nearly twice the traffic it was originally designed to handle. The National Bridge Inventory has deemed it to be functionally obsolete.

Ironically, Mr. Obama's visit added to the traffic headaches he cited, as the bridge was shut down to vehicles heading in his direction as the President's motorcade and police escort arrived and departed Cincinnati.

Replacing the Brent Spence Bridge and creating new approaches would cost an estimated $2.4 billion, only a fraction of which has so far been secured.

Mr. Obama's proposal has shown little momentum as Republicans question both the spending side of the ledger and the President's proposal to pay for it with tax increases for the wealthy beginning in 2013 and yet unspecified cuts in spending elsewhere.

They've also argued that Mr. Obama's use of the Brent Spence Bridge as his poster-bridge is misplaced because the project's timetable may not have the construction phase -- the real job-creating phase -- ready to go until as late as 2015. The point of Mr. Obama's proposal is to create jobs now.

"While I was pleased to see President Obama recognizing the significance of the Brent Spence Bridge project, his administration made it clear that his recent focus on the bridge is sadly nothing more than a political ploy to pressure Republicans into supporting yet another stimulus plan," said U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, a Cincinnati Republican. "There's nothing in the so-called jobs plan that indicates money will be spent on the Brent Spence Project."

He noted that no money from Mr. Obama's prior stimulus package in 2009 of nearly $800 billion made its way to the project.

Last week, Mr. Obama visited a Columbus school to promote aspects of his jobs package that would invest in renovation of the nation's aging schools as well as aid to governments to avoid layoffs of teachers, police, and firefighters.

Rick Wiley, political director of the Republican National Committee, said it's no accident that Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have been in battleground Ohio four times between them so far this month. The state's unemployment rate in August was 9.1 percent, up a tenth of a point from July.

"It should come as no surprise how purely political this trip is,'' Mr. Wiley said.

"The bridge spans between the states of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner. Instead of coming to Cincinnati for a real solution to put people back to work, he's trying to sell his stimulus-part 2."

Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.