However, it is a plan that sounds like another stimulus package. The president is facing a real dilemma with the economy. He wants to create jobs, but not add to the national debt. Obama outlined his path forward and ABC7 got reaction at a local jobs summit.
The president said reducing the debt is part of growing jobs over the long term, but so is short term spending on the nation's transportation infrastructure.
"We used to have the best roads, the best bridges, the best airports. We don't anymore," said Obama.
The president asked Congress for a bill that would provide loans to rebuild roads and bridges.
"That could put people back to work right now, construction workers back to work right now," said Obama.
And he says he's told his administration to cut red tape.
"Don't just look at future regulations, regulations that we're proposing, let's go back and look at regulations that are already on the books, and if they don't make sense, let's get rid of them," said Obama.
At a job's summit in Fremont on Wednesday, regulation was a popular theme.
"It's very easy to set up large bureaucracies and there is no natural market impulse to take them apart," said Diarmuid O'Connell, the vice president of business development at Tesla Motors.
Clint Severson is CEO of a high-tech medical equipment company, Abaxix.
"We not only have the federal FDA inspecting us, we have the California FDA inspecting us," said Severson.
The high-tech business reps said their businesses are doing pretty well.
"$143 million in sales, which is up about 18 percent," said Severson.
"In terms of hiring, we're growing rapidly," said O'Connell.
But when it came to the president's call for the rich and successful to pay a little more, O'Connell begged off.
"I'm not a politician or a philosopher, so I'm sorry," said O'Connell.
And Severson just said no.
"We're taxing all the things that we want to encourage. It makes no sense," said Severson.
Down the street at Zorba's Restaurant, flower wholesaler Richard Borja applauded the president's call.
"Because he was like, 'The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer' and there's even less of a middle class you know," said Borja.
The president is counting on that argument to sway House Republicans before the government runs out of money Aug. 2nd.
