Jobs, auto rescue in focus as Obama comes to Detroit

[WI_DEM]

Washington — President Barack Obama's Labor Day speech in Detroit offers him a high-stakes opportunity to remind voters in a state key to his re-election bid the role he played in turning around the fortunes of General Motors and Chrysler.

He'll deliver his remarks outside GM's world headquarters just three days before he addresses a joint session of Congress to lay out his plan to create jobs and reignite the sluggish economy.

"The challenge for the president is to bring the discussion back to what would have happened to the economy had we not acted to boost the economy," said Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University. He cited the stimulus bill and Obama's steps to prevent GM and Chrysler from collapsing as examples of how the state's economy has benefited under the president.

"We experienced by far the worst downturn in our lifetimes, but it could have been substantially worse. The president needs to get that point across."



From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110902/POLITICS03/109020386/Jobs--auto-rescue-in-focus-as-Obama-comes-to-Detroit#ixzz1WoGCESYI