JAMESTOWN, N.C. — President Obama on Tuesday warned voters not to be “bamboozled” by Republican claims that his jobs bill will raise their taxes.
Speaking at the YMCA on the campus of Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, N.C., Obama said he wanted to clear up “a lot of misinformation out there” regarding his American Jobs Act.
“I want to be clear. The vast majority of Americans would see a tax cut under this jobs bill,” Obama said, adding later, “So don’t be bamboozled. Don’t fall for this notion that the jobs act is proposing to raise your taxes. It’s just not true.”
Speaking on the second day of a three-day bus trip to promote his jobs plan, Obama repeated his call for Congress to begin passing his $447 billion jobs package piece by piece, saying lawmakers should begin with a $35 billion component of the legislation aimed at allowing states to avoid laying off teachers and first responders.
Senate Democrats plan to offset the $35 billion provision with a 0.5 percent surtax on those earning more than $1 million a year.
The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate as Republicans have thus far signaled an unwillingness to raise taxes on any Americans.
The Senate rejected Obama’s jobs package last week. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced the $35 billion component, saying he planned to schedule a vote on the measure “as quickly as we can.”
In his remarks in Jamestown Tuesday, Obama said the next part of his jobs bill he wants lawmakers to consider will “give members of Congress the chance to vote on whether our construction workers should sit around doing nothing while China builds the newest airports and the fastest railroads.”
The White House has insisted the bus tour is not part of the president’s re-election campaign, and Obama seemed to address criticism of the tour Tuesday, saying he traveled to North Carolina because “I’m not the Democratic president or the Republican president. I’m the president.”
But Obama has used his speaking appearances to blast his political opponents, criticizing Republicans for refusing to debate his jobs bill and hitting out against a GOP-proposed jobs plan, saying it boiled down to gutting environmental regulations, drilling more, rolling back Wall Street reforms and repealing health care reform.
North Carolina and Virginia are also among the states expected to be a major focus for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign as swing states Ohio and Florida tilt increasingly towards the Republican Party. While North Carolina and Virginia have historically voted Republican, Obama captured both states in 2008 with the support of the states’ minority voters and a growing number of white professionals.
The White House said the American Jobs Act would provide $900 million to North Carolina and support 13,400 educator jobs in the state, while Virginia would receive more than $740 million to support 10,800 teaching jobs.
The president heads to Virginia later Tuesday, where he is scheduled to deliver remarks at Greensville County High School in Emporia.
The bus tour hit a speed bump earlier this week when a truck containing the president’s teleprompter, podium, presidential seals and $200,000 worth of audio equipment was stolen by thieves in Virginia. The equipment was to be used by Obama at an event in Chesterfield, Va., Wednesday.
The truck was recovered Monday afternoon, and a Defense Information Systems Agency spokesperson said no classified or sensitive information had been in the vehicle.