Obama presses lawmakers on small-business jobs plan

U.S. President Barack Obama makes remarks about the Senate campaign finance reform vote in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington July 26, 2010.

EDISON, New Jersey (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday kept up his push for U.S. Senate approval of a $30 billion small-business lending package he said would generate jobs, and urged Republicans to stop blocking the plan for political gain.

Meeting a group of small-business owners at a sandwich shop in New Jersey, Obama called on lawmakers to set aside their differences and pass the legislation before adjourning in early August for a one-month recess.

Obama wants to show Americans he is focused on job creation, mindful that voter anxiety over nearly double-digit unemployment could translate into big losses for his Democratic Party in November congressional election.

Republicans have cast the small-business proposal as part of what they consider Obama's overreach in government spending.

Obama insisted it was time to overcome partisan politics, saying the two parties should be able to find common ground to pass a bill. "We've seen a fair amount of obstruction that's had more to do with gaining political advantage than helping the country," he said at the Tastee Sub Shop in Edison.

Senators were trying to reach agreement on amendments, with Democrats hopeful of passing a bill as early as Thursday. Lawmakers would then have to reconcile differences between a Senate and already-passed House of Representatives version before sending it to Obama for his signature.

Small businesses have suffered a credit crunch that has made it difficult to expand. Many also are worried about costs associated with Obama's healthcare overhaul and fear they will face higher taxes if Obama keeps a pledge to let Bush-era tax cuts on the rich expire at the end of 2010.

FOCUS ON SMALL BUSINESS

Obama said small businesses, which account for two-thirds of jobs created in the United States, were essential to economic recovery after the deepest recession in decades.

The plan Obama is promoting as a way to increase small-business hiring includes a $30 billion fund to invest in community banks to bolster lending. It also would provide tax credits and a limited capital gains exemption.

Republicans want Obama to focus more on cutting spending to reduce the record U.S. budget deficit.

"It's time to put aside the liberal wish-list and allow America's small businessmen and women to do something that has a chance of reviving this economy. Spending, debt and tax hikes are the last thing we need," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

In contrast to Obama's stop at the sandwich shop where he ordered a 6-inch "super sub," he was due to headline two lavish Democratic fundraisers in New York later on Wednesday, including one hosted by Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour.

The Republican National Committee seized the chance to issue a statement entitled "The President wears Prada."

"Glitzy fundraisers, posh vacations and celebrity concerts show Obama's elitist disconnect from the American people," it said.

Asked how the White House could reconcile the president attending such events during a down economy, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said: "The president is doing what the president traditionally does, which is helping to raise money for the campaign season.

"The president has a wide variety of things that he has on his schedule every single day. Today is one of those days and he's wearing a couple different hats."

(Writing by Matt Spetalnick and Patricia Zengerle; editing by Mohammad Zargham)