WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Thursday hailed a long-sought trade deal as an engine for job creation in both countries and presented a united front in the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Hosting Lee amid the pomp of a formal state visit, Obama underscored what is widely seen as a high point in the longtime alliance between Washington and Seoul as well as his ever-closer personal bond with the South Korean leader.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak hailed a long-sought trade deal as an engine for job creation in both countries as their White House summit got under way on Thursday.

Hosting Lee amid the pomp of a formal state visit, Obama sought to underscore what is widely seen as a high point in the longtime alliance between Washington and Seoul as well as his ever-closer personal bond with the South Korean leader.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama laid out a $3.6 trillion plan on Monday to cut budget deficits partly by raising taxes on the rich, but Republicans rejected it as a political stunt and made clear the proposal has little chance of becoming law.

Vowing to veto any plan that relies solely on spending cuts to reduce deficits, the Democratic president’s recommendations set the stage for an ideological fight with Republicans opposed to tax increases that will stretch through Election Day 2012.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday laid out a $3 trillion plan to cut U.S. deficits by raising taxes on the rich, but Republicans mocked it as a political stunt, signaling the proposal has little chance of becoming law.

Vowing to veto any cuts to Medicare unless Congress hikes taxes on companies and the wealthy, the Democratic president’s recommendations set the stage for an ideological fight with Republicans that will stretch through Election Day 2012.

WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will
lay out a plan on Monday to cut the U.S. deficit that will
raise taxes on the rich, striking a populist tone to motivate
his Democratic Party base before the November 2012 election.

Obama will vow to veto any cuts proposed for the
government-run Medicare health program for the elderly unless
Congress agrees to lift taxes on companies and the wealthy.

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, in
a rallying call to his Democratic base, will vow on Monday to
veto any cuts in Medicare if Congress fails to raise taxes on
corporations and wealthy Americans to curb the U.S. deficit.

Obama’s recommendations to a congressional “super
committee” would deliver deficit savings of more than $3
trillion over the next decade, his aides said, with roughly
half of those savings coming from higher tax revenues.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, seeking to rescue the troubled U.S. economy and his own prospects for re-election, embarks on an uphill battle on Friday to win Republican support for a make-or-break $447 billion jobs plan.

The proposals, heavily weighted toward tax cuts for workers and businesses, were carefully crafted to appeal to middle-class voters who gravitate toward the political center.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will lay out a jobs package worth more than $300 billon on Thursday, staking his re-election hopes on a call for urgent bipartisan action to revive the faltering economy.

With his poll numbers sliding to new lows amid voter frustration with 9.1 percent unemployment, Obama will make tax cuts for middle-class households and businesses the centerpiece of the plan and will press for new spending to repair roads, bridges and other deteriorating infrastructure.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s use of a rare joint session of Congress to deliver a jobs speech on Thursday reflects a political strategy to try to blame Republicans for an economy at risk of sliding back into recession.

The choice of venue — the Republican-controlled House of Representatives — is aimed at sending a clear message to voters that if his plan to reduce high unemployment is blocked by Congress, it is Republicans and not the White House standing in the way of job growth.

DETROIT (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Monday previewed proposals for new infrastructure spending and an extension of payroll tax cuts as part of a major jobs package he will unveil this week, and challenged Republicans to find common ground with him.

Obama used a Labor Day rally with cheering union workers in economically hard-hit Detroit to set a combative tone ahead of his nationally televised speech to Congress on Thursday, signaling he is ready to confront Republicans over their resistance to his agenda.