Obama pitches road spending, tax incentives in Ohio

* Measures face tough fight in Congress

* Cleveland site of rival economic speeches

* Fighting over Bush tax cuts

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will push billions of dollars in new business tax incentives and spending on big construction projects on Wednesday, as he tries to convince a balky Congress to pass measures intended to spur the economy and create jobs.

Obama is to travel to Cleveland, Ohio, to announce plans including $200 billion in tax write-offs for businesses, a $50 billion infrastructure spending boost and increasing and permanently extending a tax credit for business research and development that would cost $100 billion over 10 years.

He will also stress that he does not intend to bend on his opposition to extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans enacted under his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, aides said.

"The president's viewpoint is that we cannot afford to extend the tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a news briefing on Tuesday.

Democrats hope the plan will also reduce their expected losses in the Nov. 2 congressional elections.

The White House pitches the plans as essential to get the economy moving again and set the stage for long-term economic growth, but Republicans in Congress are wary.

"This isn't about the next 60 days or the next 90 days, this is about how do we get our economy fully back on track, how do we get the millions that want to work back to work, and how do we repair the economic damage that's been going on not just over the past two years, but over the past 10 years?" Gibbs said.

The plans cannot pass without support in Congress from Republicans, who are far outnumbered in the House of Representatives and Senate by Obama's fellow Democrats but are still able to block legislation.

With polls showing Republicans favored to cut into or even eliminate Democratic majorities in Congress in November, the minority party has little motivation to give Obama a win.

Republicans typically embrace plans like Obama's proposal for billions of dollars in tax breaks for business.

REPUBLICANS SAY FIRST STIMULUS FAILED

Republican leaders are skeptical about Obama's proposals, saying they are reluctant to back more spending because the $814 billion stimulus Obama got through Congress in early 2009 has not had the desired effect.

They say their main goal is to extend tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush administration that are set to expire this year.

Democrats want to extend the tax cuts for those making $250,000 a year or less, but Republicans want to extend them for the wealthy as well and are calling expiration of the tax cuts a tax increase.

Economists said the new plans could provide a modest burst of activity in a slow-growth economy, but the risk is that they would only pull forward planned investments, which would do little to alter a sluggish growth trajectory and spur hiring to alleviate the 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

Questions have also been raised about how Obama plans to pay for the plan and whether it will widen the budget deficit.

The discussion has taken on all the trappings of a heated political campaign.

Gibbs openly acknowledged Cleveland was selected as the venue for Obama's speech on Wednesday because House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio had made a speech there late last month calling on Obama to fire his economic team.

Ohio will see some positive economic news on Wednesday, when General Motors will roll out its first fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cruze compact car at its plant in Lordstown, Ohio. (Additional reporting by Emily Kaiser; editing by Todd Eastham)