Obama raps Republicans on trip to heartland

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Republicans to explain why they oppose the spending boosts and tax credits that he says have helped communities rebound from a bad recession. Said Obama: "Tell us why doing nothing would be better for America."

In a campaign stop promoting his economic efforts, Obama took swipes at what he called the "unified, determined opposition of one party." He said it is not too late for bipartisanship and appealed for it -- but not until after criticizing those he said were "rooting for failure."

"If the just-say-no crowd had won out -- if we had done things that way -- we'd be in a deeper world of hurt," Obama said in the swing state of Ohio, where the unemployment rate is close to 11 percent, above the already-high nationwide average of near 10 percent.

The president came to explain and defend the economic stimulus spending, tax credits, extended unemployment help that he championed with help from mostly Democrats in Congress. Without it, he said, "the steady progress we are beginning to see across America just wouldn't exist."

Obama spoke at a pipe manufacturing plant, V&M STAR, that he said is benefiting directly from his economic policies.

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The parent company of the V&M Star plant is spending $650 million to build a 1 million-square-foot (90,000 square meter)mill in Youngstown now that the nearby Norfolk Southern railroad is building a spur nearby, thanks to money from last year's stimulus act. To applause from the assembled workers, Obama said it would be the biggest industrial plant built in the region since a GM plant went up in nearby Lordstown in the 1960s.

It's the latest stop on his White House to Main Street tour of towns and businesses, often in economically depressed regions.

The president was in Buffalo, New York, last week, and before that made stops in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Charlotte, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia, and Quincy, Illinois.

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