WASHINGTON
Pointing to a rebound in manufacturing, President Barack Obama today is visiting a Milwaukee plant that has brought back jobs to the United States.
Before going on an extended West Coast fundraising spree, the president was visiting Master Lock, a Milwaukee maker of padlocks that was cited in his State of the Union address for bringing back 100 jobs to the U.S. from China in response to higher labor and logistical costs in Asia.
In his speech at Master Lock, Obama intends to call on companies to promote more investments — and more jobs — in the U.S.
“ Right now we have an excellent opportunity to bring manufacturing back — but we have to seize it,” Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery. “My message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.”
Obama also planned to announce that the Commerce Department will hold the first annual SelectUSA Investment Summit, bringing companies in to meet with governors, mayors and others to discuss ways of promoting investments in the U.S.
The president was making his economic pitch as Congress was poised to advance a key component of the jobs agenda he unveiled last September. House-Senate negotiators reached a tentative agreement Tuesday on extending a payroll tax cut through the end of the year and renewing jobless benefits for the longterm unemployed. Lawmakers were expected to unveil the proposal today and could send the measure to Obama as early as this week.
The extension would be a win for Obama, who has said the cut in the Social Security payroll tax — amounting to about $40 per paycheck for the average worker — is vital to keeping the economy on the right path.
“Congress needs to extend that tax cut — along with vital insurance lifelines for folks who’ve lost their jobs during this recession — and they need to do it now, without drama and without delay,” Obama said Tuesday.
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