Obama to focus on economy during Lorain County visit

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is returning to Ohio on Jan. 22 to talk about the economy and jobs, the White House announced yesterday.The stop in Lorain County is the second — and the second in a key swing state politically — on what the Obama administration has dubbed a “Main Street Tour.” Obama visited Allentown, Pa., last month for the first stop on that tour.

Obama was last in Ohio on Labor Day, to speak at a Cincinnati AFL-CIO picnic.

During his Lorain County visit, Obama “will meet with Ohio workers, local CEOs, small-business owners, and local leaders about ideas for continuing to grow the economy and put Americans back to work,” the White House said in a release.

Republicans are sure to criticize Obama’s visit to Ohio by stressing the continuing high unemployment rate in the Buckeye State — 10.6 percent in November. The December figure is scheduled to be released the morning of Obama’s visit.

The GOP says the $787 billion stimulus package that passed almost entirely along party lines hasn’t done nearly enough to aid job creation.

Obama and other Democrats say the stimulus package helped steady the economy and put it in a position to grow again. But now Obama is expected to seek more stimulus money, perhaps $150 billion or more, to help create jobs.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, whose old House district included Lorain, said this might be the first time a sitting president has visited the county since President Harry Truman’s whistlestop visit to Elyria in 1948.

Brown said he is working with Obama on a “national manufacturing policy that invests in the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and helps workers and industries transition to the clean energy economy.”

jriskind@dispatch.com

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