On bus tour, Obama seizes on US discontent

US: US President Barack Obama sought to tap public discontent with big money elites Monday as he kicked off a campaign-style bus tour to blame Republican obstructionism for the souring economy.

Obama rallied supporters at the start of a three-day swing through North Carolina and Virginia as he struggles to maintain his standing with voters over the economy, especially in the two southern states he narrowly won in 2008.

The road trip comes with Obama's $447 billion jobs bill - touted by the White House as the best way to bring down the high 9.1 percent unemployment rate - stuck in the Senate, where Republican lawmakers have blocked a vote on the plan. "Maybe they didn't know what they were voting against. So we're going to chop it up into some bite-sized pieces and give them another chance to look out for your jobs instead of looking out for their own jobs." AFP