Economy improving, though slowly: Obama

U.S. President Barack Obama insisted Friday that the U.S. economy is showing improvement from the deepest recession in decades, but he conceded the "progress has been painfully slow."

He said he understands that many voters in November's elections may blame the weak recovery on him.

Facing a rising jobless rate, Obama told a White House news conference: "For all the progress we've made, we're not there yet. And that means people are frustrated and why people are angry.

"Because I am president, and the Democrats have control of the House and Senate, it's understandable that people are saying, 'What have you done?"'

At his first formal session with reporters since May, Obama repeated his contention that Republican obstructionism is hampering his ability to steer the economy into a stronger recovery.

The president, who also is the leader of the Democratic Party, spent much of his appearance before cameras on the defensive, underscoring his frustration with being unable to convince the public that his economic fixes are working.

He repeatedly sought to justify the high-dollar actions his administration has taken to boost a sputtering recovery. And he blamed Republicans for holding back future progress by uniformly opposing other proposals on the table.

His previous revival efforts have worked, Obama said, but "haven't done as much as we needed to do."

With public opinion sour on the first economic stimulus plan, Obama initially refused to call the three-pronged economic plan he laid out this week a "stimulus" plan but then said: "There's no doubt that everything we've been trying to do … is designed to stimulate growth and jobs in the entire economy."

Bush-era tax cuts at issue

Much of the summer has been marked by one discouraging economic report after another.

Yet, reports so far this month — from manufacturing to new jobless claims to home sales to business activity — have topped most forecasts. That has brightened the outlook somewhat as worries of a "double-dip" recession fade.

Still, there is little that Obama can do that is likely to turn the economy around in the short time before Election Day on Nov. 2.

'Why hold it up? Why hold the middle class hostage?' —U.S. President Barack Obama

The president repeated his insistence that Republicans must drop stalling tactics on a bill to help small businesses when Congress returns next week from its summer recess.

And Obama insisted again that Bush-era tax cuts be extended for individuals earning less than $200,000 US a year and joint filers earning less than $250,000. All the Bush tax cuts are to expire at the end of this year unless Congress acts.

Obama said Congress shouldn't delay extending the middle-class tax cuts any longer.

"Why hold it up? Why hold the middle class hostage?" he said.  

He said extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans "is a bad idea."

Obama over the past week has outlined a trio of job-creation ideas designed to prod the economy: $50 billion for roads, rail lines and other infrastructure spending, a permanent research and development credit, and upfront 100 per cent business write-offs through 2012.

'Stimulus package'?

With polls suggesting that voters have decided — rightly or wrongly — that his $814 billion stimulus plan last year was less than a success, the White House has been steering clear of portraying these new items as more stimulus.

Yet when he was asked directly whether the unpopularity of the first stimulus was the reason White House officials weren't using that word this time, Obama said:

"I have no problem with people saying the president is trying to stimulate growth and jobs. There's no doubt that everything we've been trying to do … is designed to stimulate growth and jobs in the entire economy." He said he hoped Republicans had the same goal.

Facing a possible GOP blowout in November, Obama sought to rally his struggling party, casting Democrats as warriors for the hard-pressed middle class and Republicans as protectors of millionaires and special interests.

Asked how he had changed Washington, Obama said the dreadful economy made it hard to demonstrate real progress.

"I think that's fair. I'm as frustrated as anybody by it," Obama said.