President Barack Obama visited Milwaukee Monday to address economic issues at Laborfest, a union- sponsored Labor Day celebration on the Summerfest grounds, and promoted his $50 billion plan to improve national infrastructure.
Obama gave an energized speech as part of the approaching campaign season, marking his third visit to Wisconsin since July.
The president made sure to address growing economic concerns.
""The problems facing working families, they're nothing new."" Obama said. ""But they are more serious than ever.
Obama lauded the middle class and unions and also highlighted tax cuts passed by Democrats. He ridiculed Republicans, claiming they arbitrarily disagree with everything he does. He blamed the current economic doldrums on the recent Republican majority, calling it ""a decade worth of policies that saw too few people being able to climb into the middle class.""
Obama also gave a shout out to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in his speech. The Obama camp has made no secret that they want Barrett, a long-time Obama supporter, to win the Nov. 2 gubernatorial race.
In November, Barrett will face either Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker or former congressman Mark Neumann, both of whom are vying for the Republican nomination. Jill Bader, Walker's spokesperson, said she was not surprised by Obama's visit.
""Obama promised Barrett he would do everything possible to get Barrett elected governor to continue a third term of Gov. Jim Doyle's policies,"" Bader said.
The speech's focal point was the announcement of a new plan for updating American infrastructure, which the president claimed would help the economy and the middle class.
""We used to have the best infrastructure in the world, we can have it again,"" said Obama.
The initiative would allocate $50 billion over the next six years to rebuild 150,000 miles of roads, lay and maintain 4,000 miles of railways, restore 150 miles of runways and try to reduce airport delays.
Obama promised the plan would focus on ""smart"" investments and cutting waste and bureaucracy.
Scott Walker's campaign said the plan is more of the same, evidence that Obama's initial stimulus package had failed.
