Obama braces for lackluster jobs report

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama braced for another potential dose of lackluster economic news on Friday, a day after Republican challenger Mitt Romney promised that his economic program will create 12 million new jobs in the next four years.

Obama was expected to continue making his case to voters that the economy is slowly but surely recovering and would be doing better if congressional Republicans would pass his economic proposals. Romney was turning his attention back to the economy after missteps during his recent trip to Britain, Israel and Poland.

Voters remain worried about the exceedingly slow recovery from the Great Recession and stubbornly high national unemployment, now at 8.2 percent.

Romney on Thursday sought to seize the moment in his first campaign stop since the troubled trip overseas, likening President Barack Obama to a "dog trying to chase its tail" when it comes to strengthening the sluggish economic recovery.

Firing back instantly, Obama said his rival favors "trickle-down fairy dust" that has failed to fix the economy in the past, and unleashed a new television ad with a scathing summation of Romney's tax plans: "He pays less. You pay more."

The two men campaigned in battleground states hundreds of miles (kilometers) apart, the incumbent in Florida, his challenger in Colorado, both on a mission to convert undecided voters to their side.

In a razor-close race, polls show Romney, with his record with a private equity firm, leading as the candidate best qualified to deal with the struggling economy.

The next major marker of economic health is released Friday, when the government announces July hiring and unemployment trends.

Economists forecast that U.S. employers added 100,000 jobs in July. That would be slightly better than the 75,000-a-month average from April through June but still below the healthier 226,000 average in the first three months of the year.

Romney unveiled what aides called his plan for more jobs and more take-home pay, coupled with a self-generated report card that said Massachusetts enjoyed better economic times when he was governor than the nation has under Obama.

In remarks in Golden, Colorado, he said his economic policies would lead to creation of 12 million jobs over the first four years, and help make North America energy-independent, a pledge that aides said included Canada and Mexico as well as the United States.

Romney pledged expanded international trade, particularly with Latin America, and vowed to confront China over its own policies. "I'm finally going to sit down with the Chinese and they're going to understand that if they cheat there are going to be consequences, because we're not going to let them walk all over us," the former Massachusetts governor said.

He said he would help small business owners, improve the education system and cut spending to reduce the deficit, but he offered relatively few specifics.

Romney has previously he wants to extend the tax cuts due to expire on Dec. 31 and grant a new 20 percent cut in tax rates in addition to stimulate growth. He has also said he will reverse some of Obama's proposed defense cuts, and simultaneously reduce spending on other programs in a way that deficits would gradually subside.

But he has so far refused to identify which existing tax breaks he would curtail to accomplish his goals, and generally avoided naming individual programs he wants to cut or eliminate.

In his remarks, Romney said Democrats "think we should just raise taxes. ...The problem is when you raise taxes you lower growth," he said.

Obama's approach is "like a dog trying to chase its tail, you just don't ever get there," he added. "So the right answer is not to raise taxes. The right answer is to cut taxes and cut spending."

Obama planned to use the backdrop of the White House and surround himself with families who would benefit from the election year middle-class tax cut he's pushing Congress to adopt.

Obama and other Democrats support extending existing tax cuts except for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and couples with incomes over $250,000 — and their disagreement with Romney and the Republicans on this point has emerged as arguably the most fundamental one of the campaign.

It's an argument that Obama seems eager to have — using campaign appearances and paid television advertising to do so.

For the second day in a row, Obama cited a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that says Romney and other millionaires would receive a tax cut of approximately $250,000 a year if the former Massachusetts governor gets his way.

The president's new campaign ad was delivering the same highly personalized message. It says that Romney has paid a lower proportion of his income in taxes than many people of lesser means and adds:

"He pays less, you pay more," the ad says.

Romney's personal wealth has been estimated as high as $250 million, but he has not so far made public any detailed disclosure of his holdings. His aides have sought to dismiss the report as a partisan attack by former aides to the president.