Obama's Economy: 'I Welcome the Job'

With unemployment at 9.5 percent, the highest it's been in 26 years, President Obama went on offense Tuesday in one of the states hardest hit by the country's economic troubles. In Warren, Mich., he told a crowd looking for answers: "My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and harp and gripe."

The president went to Macomb Community College to announce an administration proposal to spend $12 billion on the nation's community colleges. But he went off script to answer political critics and the public's growing uncertainty about his economic stimulus plan.

Of the Republicans who are looking to make gains as jobless numbers continue to rise, Obama said: "I love these folks who get us in this mess and then suddenly say it's Obama's economy," he said. "That's fine. Give it to me. I welcome the job."

The $12 billion would be used, administration officials said, to develop innovative programs and revamp existing ones. Laid-off workers in need of new skills and students who cannot afford four-year colleges traditionally turn to community colleges. The plan would develop Internet-based courses to reach more students. Michigan cities such as Warren, a Detroit suburb, have been hard hit by layoffs in the auto industry; the state's unemployment rate is the nation's highest, at 14 percent.

Obama was honest about the new economy. "The hard truth," he said, "is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. They're the casualties of a changing economy."

President Obama realizes that even his supporters have a limited amount of patience in the face of foreclosures and job losses. In Warren, he turned to campaign-style words to rally them:

For now, anyway.