Obama Starts New Jobs Push

Reuters reports:

President Barack Obama on Friday launched an initiative to develop new U.S. manufacturing jobs by teaming up government with companies and universities to invest more than $500 million in advanced technologies.

Obama, who must ease high unemployment to be confident of winning a second White House term next year, visited Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to launch the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, aimed at fostering a new generation of U.S.-made high-technology products.

"This partnership is about new cutting-edge ideas to create new jobs, spark new breakthroughs, reinvigorate American manufacturing today. Right now," the Democratic president told an audience of around 200 in a robotics laboratory.

The initiative does not involve new government spending and Obama, who is fighting Republicans to raise the borrowing limit, emphasized the need to curb the country's deficit and debt, while investing in its future.

"If we want a robust growing economy we need a robust growing manufacturing sector," he said. "I ran for president to get us back to where we need to be. I have a larger vision for America."