Obama Slams Republicans for Delaying Jobless Benefits Extension

President Barack Obama, in a particularly sharp rebuke, slammed Senate Republicans on Saturday for "stalling tactics" that he said slowed the economic recovery by blocking votes on an extension of jobless benefits and an aid package for small businesses.

In his weekly address recorded Friday, the president said the Senate leadership has chosen to "filibuster our recovery and obstruct our progress" by not allowing votes on the measures. The landscape could change as early as Tuesday when West Virginia Democrat Carte Goodwin is expected to be sworn in to succeed the late Sen. Robert Byrd, giving Democrats a 60th vote -- the threshold they must reach to choke off a filibuster and move ahead with final votes on the disputed legislation.

"Some Republicans actually treat this unemployment insurance as if it's a form of welfare," Obama said. "They say it discourages folks from looking for work. Well, I've met a lot of folks looking for work these past few years, and I can tell you I haven't met any Americans who would rather have an unemployment check than a meaningful job that lets you provide for your family." Republicans say the added jobless benefits come at a cost of $34 billion, which would be borrowed and heaped on the budget deficit. A second proposal would provide tax breaks and credit extensions for small businesses.

Obama, who was on a vacation weekend in Maine on Saturday, took his own hit from the other side -- the Republican National Committee, which criticized him for taking time off during the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.

And separately, in their own weekly address, Republicans took issue with Obama's recent recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick as head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a key position in carrying out the new health law. By naming Berwick while the Senate was in recess, Obama got his man on the job at least through next year without having to go through the scrutiny of confirmation hearings -- hearings that had not even been scheduled. "The president's health care plan -- the most sweeping overhaul of heath care in our lifetime -- cannot be implemented behind closed doors," said Sen. Pat Roberts, (R-Kansas), referring to the absence of public hearings on the Berwick nomination.