WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama found common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction but drew a rebuke on healthcare reform.

A Democrat, Obama has been promoting a retooled strategy since an election in Massachusetts last month deprived his party of a “super majority” in the Senate and forced him to work more closely with rival Republicans.

After a roughly 90-minute White House meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, Obama indicated he would accept “incremental steps” rather than more sweeping measures to create jobs, his top domestic priority.

“(It’s) realistic for us to get a package moving quickly that may not include all of the things I think need to be done,” Obama said during an impromptu news conference.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama found common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction but drew a rebuke on healthcare reform.

A Democrat, Obama has been promoting a retooled strategy since an election in Massachusetts last month deprived his party of a “super majority” in the U.S. Senate and forced him to work more closely with rival Republicans.

After a roughly 90-minute White House meeting with congressional leaders from both parties, Obama indicated he would accept “incremental steps” rather than more sweeping measures to create jobs, his top domestic priority. [ID:nN09247366]

“(It’s) realistic for us to get a package moving quickly that may not include all of the things I think need to be done,” Obama said during an impromptu news conference.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform.

Obama, a Democrat, has been forced to work more closely with Republicans since an election in Massachusetts in January deprived his party of its “super majority” in the Senate.

As lawmakers eye November elections that could change the balance of power in the Congress further, the president sought to engage the opposition on shared priorities, while accusing them of sometimes prioritizing politics over policy.

The president showed evidence of a more focused, retooled strategy after his roughly 90-minute meeting with congressional Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House.

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform.

Obama, a Democrat, has been forced to work more closely with Republicans since an election in Massachusetts in January deprived his party of its “super majority” in the Senate.

As lawmakers eye November elections that could change the balance of power in the U.S. Congress further, the president sought to engage the opposition on shared priorities, while accusing them of sometimes prioritizing politics over policy.

The president showed evidence of a more focused, retooled strategy after his roughly 90-minute meeting with congressional Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House. [ID:nN09247366]

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday over his top priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform. Obama, a Democrat, has been forced to work more closely with Republicans since an election in Massachusetts in January deprived his party of its "super majority" in the Senate. As lawmakers eye November elections that could change the balance of power in the U.S. Congress further, the president sought to engage the opposition on shared priorities, while accusing them of sometimes prioritizing politics over policy. The president showed evidence of a more focused, retooled strategy after his roughly 90-minute meeting with congressional Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House. [ID:nN09247366] Rather than calling for sweeping measures to boost jobs — his top priority in 2010 — Obama said "incremental steps" may be necessary to get initial job-boosting initiatives passed. "I think that it’s … realistic for us to get a package moving quickly that may not include all of the things I think need to be done," Obama said during an impromptu press conference at the White House. "It may be that that first package builds some trust and confidence that Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill can work together," he said. Republican leaders told reporters after the meeting they saw a basis for support from both parties on trade, nuclear power and offshore drilling. But they called for wide-ranging legislation to reform healthcare to be scrapped. Obama’s first year in office was characterized by sweeping proposals on healthcare, climate change and financial reform that are all still pending in Congress. Meanwhile, the economy — though improving — is still a top concern for U.S. voters. The economy grew by a brisk 5.7 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2009 and unemployment dipped to 9.7 percent in January. But the jobless rate remains historically high and the White House wants additional stimulus on top of a $787 billion emergency spending package Obama signed last year.JOBS, JOBS, JOBSObama said one area where both parties could agree was eliminating capital gains taxes for small businesses. He said he hoped all sides would also support a way to get more capital to community banks lending to small businesses. The House of Representatives passed a $155 billion jobs bill in December but the Senate has yet to act. Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a set of job-creating ideas last week and said they would solicit Republican input before moving ahead with legislation. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped to introduce a bill on Monday and pass it by the end of the week, but he has been delayed by a severe snowstorm that has prevented many lawmakers from coming to work. A jobs bill that could go through the Senate would extend soon-to-expire jobless payments, healthcare subsidies for the unemployed and highway-funding programs, according to the text of the bill obtained by Reuters. [ID:n N09101879] "Frankly, it is not ready yet," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after the meeting with Obama, referring to a jobs bill. "Most of my members have not seen it yet. We’re certainly open to it and … there is a chance we can move this forward on a bipartisan basis." In one potential sign of conciliation, House Republican leader John Boehner said the party was mulling appointing members to Obama’s proposed bipartisan deficit commission. Obama plans to issue an executive order to set up the commission to study options on spending and taxes after lawmakers failed to create a congressional panel on the issue. Republican leaders, however, did not budge on Obama’s plans to reform the healthcare industry, calling on Democrats to scrap current versions of the bills and start over. (Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Ross Colvin, Steve Holland, Matt Spetalnick and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama sought common ground with Republicans on Tuesday on his top policy priorities of job creation and deficit reduction, winning hints of support in both areas but a rebuke on healthcare reform.

Obama, a Democrat, met with congressional leaders from both parties at the White House in an effort to boost his economic agenda after the recent Massachusetts election resulted in the loss of his party’s “super majority” in the U.S. Senate.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said it may take a “series of incremental steps” to get a jobs package passed in Congress quickly.

“I think that it’s … realistic for us to get a package moving quickly that may not include all of the things I think need to be done,” Obama said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama laid out new steps on Wednesday to nudge the United States toward energy independence, backing measures to boost production of biofuels and bury pollution from coal.

Using the new initiatives to garner support for a climate and energy bill stalled in the U.S. Senate, Obama met with a handful of state governors to press his policies to fight global warming and wean the nation from imported fossil fuels.

“America can win the race to build a clean energy economy, but we’re going to have to overcome the weight of our own politics,” he said at the meeting, noting China was pushing aggressively to lead in “clean” energy technology.

“We have to focus not so much on those narrow areas where we disagree, but on the broad areas where we agree,” he said.

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama laid out new steps on Wednesday to nudge the United States toward energy independence, backing measures to boost production of biofuels and bury pollution from coal. Using the new initiatives to garner support for a climate and energy bill stalled in the U.S. Senate, Obama met with a handful of state governors to press his policies to fight global warming and wean the nation from imported fossil fuels. "America can win the race to build a clean energy economy, but we’re going to have to overcome the weight of our own politics," he said at the meeting, noting China was pushing aggressively to lead in "clean" energy technology. "We have to focus not so much on those narrow areas where we disagree, but on the broad areas where we agree," he said. Agreement on a climate bill is still far from certain, and the legislation faces further obstacles after the election last month in Massachusetts that gave Republicans a Senate seat long held by Democrats, depriving the president’s party of 60 votes that could overcome procedural hurdles. Obama has acknowledged that a controversial "cap and trade" system could be separated from other parts of the bill, though he is adamant that a market-based mechanism be put in place to make high polluting fuels more expensive for industry than less-polluting, renewable energy sources. Biofuels represent one renewable energy source the administration wants to promote, and a new interagency report spelled out ways the country would achieve that going forward. "By 2022, we will more than double the amount of biofuels we produce to 36 billion gallons, which will decrease our dependence on foreign oil by hundreds of millions of barrels per year," Obama said. He also announced a new task force to forge a plan for rolling out affordable carbon capture and storage technology in 10 years, including having 10 commercial demonstration projects up and running by 2016. Carbon capture and storage is meant to capture the emissions from carbon-polluting coal plants and bury them underground rather than spewing them into the atmosphere but the technology is still being researched. EPA The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday ethanol and other renewable fuels must account for 8.25 percent of gasoline sales in 2010 to meet Congress’ mandate that nearly 13 billion gallons of renewable fuels be produced this year. That is lower than last year’s 10.21 percent renewable fuel standard that the EPA announced in November 2008.. The United States is far away from its goal of producing 36 billion gallons (136 billion litres) of biofuels a year by 2022, currently producing 12 billion gallons annually, mostly from corn ethanol. The report offers solutions that would ease the way for ethanol to get from producers in the U.S. Midwest to consumers near the coasts. Such snags include filling stations that have been slow to adopt pumps to distribute a fuel blend that is mostly ethanol, called E85, and a lack of dedicated pipelines for biofuels. Loan guarantees for ethanol plants could be targeted more effectively to support new biofuels plants, the report said. The struggling biofuels industry is concerned the Obama administration will move too quickly away from ethanol to biofuels that derive from more difficult techniques using wood chips and other biomass. The president’s backing of ethanol, however, could shore up his support in farm states, where ethanol boosts demand for corn. Environmentalists and some scientists say production of U.S. biofuels from corn and other grains can drive out production of other crops, prompting farmers in other countries to burn down forests and clear land to grow those crops — creating new sources of CO2, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. (Additional reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to address currency rates with economic partners such as China and to get tougher with them on trade to ensure that U.S. goods do not face a competitive disadvantage.

With U.S.-Chinese relations already troubled by Washington’s planned arms sales to Taiwan, Obama said his administration was pushing China and other countries to enforce trade rules and open their markets.

But he insisted he had no intention of taking a protectionist stance toward China, the world’s third-largest economy, warning that “to close ourselves off from that market would be a mistake.”

Still, Obama had stern words for the Chinese as he addressed senators from his Democratic Party at a time of rising Sino-U.S. tensions, including Beijing’s anger over his plan to meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama vowed on Wednesday to address currency rates with economic partners such as China and to get tougher with them on trade to ensure that U.S. goods do not face a competitive disadvantage.

With U.S.-Chinese relations already troubled by Washington’s planned arms sales to Taiwan, Obama said his administration was pushing China and other countries to enforce trade rules and open their markets.

But he insisted he had no intention of taking a protectionist stance toward China, the world’s third-largest economy, warning that “to close ourselves off from that market would be a mistake.”

Still, Obama had stern words for the Chinese as he addressed senators from his Democratic Party at a time of rising Sino-U.S. tensions, including Beijing’s anger over his plan to meet exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.