Obama says GOP just gets in his way

He cites party for stalling middle class

President Barack Obama gives an economic policy speech at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Minneapolis  for the first in a series of Day-in-the-Life visits that he plans to make across the country this summer. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

President Barack Obama gives an economic policy speech at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, Friday, June 27, 2014, in Minneapolis for the first in a series of Day-in-the-Life visits that he plans to make across the country this summer. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Saturday, June 28, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS -- Blasting the GOP as wilfully indifferent to American struggles, President Barack Obama issued a rebuke Friday to Republican attempts to thwart his economic agenda, offering a stark contrast that Democrats hope will yield electoral success in November.

Obama's remarks at a lake in Minneapolis were billed by the White House as a speech on the economy, but the president ripped into his political foes before 3,500 cheering supporters.

"They don't do anything except block me and call me names," Obama said.

He insisted that as the nation works to restore middle-class prosperity after the recession, congressional Republicans are the only holdout.

Playfully warning his audience that he was in the mood to "say what's on my mind," Obama accused Republicans of letting greed and gridlock perpetrate an economic system that is rigged against American families. He said he gets the sense that Republicans don't understand what Americans are going through.

"The basic attitude is everybody is just crazy out there. If you read the fine print, it turns out the things you care about, right now, Democrats are proposing," Obama said.

That's why he is moving ahead without Congress, Obama said. In the absence of congressional cooperation, Obama's administration has been pursuing executive actions he can take unilaterally.

It's a strategy that's drawn indignation from Republicans, prompting House Speaker John Boehner to announce plans to sue the president for exceeding his authority.

"They decide they're going to sue me for doing my job," Obama quipped.

But Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said it is Obama and Democrats who are blocking House-passed bills to create jobs.

"The president keeps doubling down on policies that have failed to increase prosperity," Steel said.

The president's salvo put a sharp edge on a populist argument that Democrats across the country are making as they work to convince voters that they -- not Republicans -- are on the side of the middle class. With Obama's approval ratings sagging, Democrats are seeking to protect their fragile Senate majority and avoid losing more seats in the GOP-controlled House.

The president started his morning with an unannounced stop at a Minneapolis job training center, where he and Labor Secretary Tom Perez joined nine young mothers training for customer service jobs.

"All of us start at different places. I was basically raised by a single mom," Obama said, adding that like those young women, his own mother benefited from grants and programs that enabled her to support her family.

Obama's remarks at Lake Harriet capped a two-day trip to Minnesota aimed at putting the president up close with "real America," where Obama frequently laments that the concerns of everyday citizens are detached from partisan bickering in Washington.

A day earlier, Obama launched what the White House dubbed a "Day in the Life" tour by eating lunch with a working mom whose letter about her financial struggles grabbed Obama's attention when it landed on his desk.

He also ditched his motorcade in the evening in nearby St. Paul, strolling through boutique shops and food joints and chatting up pedestrians in an attempt to reconnect with the voters who twice have sent him to Washington.

Jacki Parker, a retired teacher and school counselor who went to hear Obama speak Friday, offered a groan when asked to give her take on Washington.

"There's enough to accomplish that people don't need to be at each other's throats all the time," she said.

Information for this article was contributed by Brian Bakst of The Associated Press.

A Section on 06/28/2014