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Obama warns US 'lagging behind' rivals"When our own engineers graded our nation's infrastructure, they gave us a 'D,'" Obama said. "Countries in Europe and Russia invest more in roads and railways than we do. China is building faster trains and newer airports."
This time though, using China's example to offset the US' needed steps did not convince strident Republican opposition.
"The facts are clear: Since taking office, Obama has signed into law spending increases of nearly 25 percent for domestic government agencies - an 84 percent increase when you include the failed stimulus," the Guardian quoted Republican Congressman Paul Ryan as saying Wednesday.
"All of this new government spending was sold as 'investment.' Yet, after two years, the unemployment rate remains above 9 percent, and the government has added over $3 trillion to our debt," Ryan added.
According to the US Federal Reserve, Obama will face unemployment rates of 6.8 to 7.5 percent by the 2012 elections, down from its current 9.4 percent level.
Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Tokyo-based Mizuho Securities, told AFP Wednesday that the biggest challenge for Obama to win a second term would be the hundreds of lawmakers who listened to his speech Tuesday.
"Significant measures to tackle future spending could reverse competitiveness pressure and provide room for additional stimulus to help get the economy back up to the level that it needs to," Ricchiuto was quoted as saying.
"The problem is that the group in Washington right now is incapable of addressing the issues," he added.
However, Shi with Renmin University of China dismissed claims that Obama would end up as a lame duck as being premature.
"Obama called for cooperation between the two parties as he understands clearly that if he wants to overcome the biggest difficulty of the reelection, he needs help from both the House and the Senate," Shi said.
Liu Linlin contributed to this story
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