U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday appealed to both Democrats and Republicans to back a plan to use $30 billion in bank bailout funds to help small businesses. The President used his weekly radio and Web address to promote his proposals to generate job growth in small businesses by using $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program fund for small business loans and offering a new tax credit for over 1 million small businesses that hire new workers or raise wages, according to a report of Reuters. He spoke days before the U.S. Congress begins considering a new multibillion-dollar jobs bill aimed at spurring job growth and bringing down the country's 9.7 percent jobless rate. "I urge members of both parties: do not oppose good ideas just because it's good politics to do so," Obama said. "The proposals I've outlined are not Democratic or Republican; liberal or conservative." "They are pro-business, they are pro-growth, and they are pro-job. Leaders in both parties have supported similar ideas in the past. So let's come together and pass these measures without delay."
