WASHINGTON – President Obama is planning to propose a jobs program tonight that could entail at least $300 billion in tax cuts, local government aid and spending on infrastructure such as roads and schools as he aims to restore public confidence in his ability to boost the economy.

Obama, whose approval ratings are at record lows, will present his proposals at 7 p.m. before a joint session of Congress in an address that could mark a critical moment in his presidency. His renewed focus on employment comes as the economic recovery has essentially stalled, with a discouraging government report last week showing that job creation came to a halt in August.

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President Obama, whose approval ratings are at record lows as the economic recovery stalls, will present his jobs proposals before a joint session of Congress at 7 tonight. File photo by The Associated Press

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The White House has been developing a package of jobs proposals since August, when Obama completed months of negotiations with Republicans over a deficit-reduction deal.

The president’s plan, in large part, will call for continuing current measures to stimulate the economy, including a 2 percentage-point payroll tax cut and extended unemployment benefits, administration officials say. Obama is also likely to call for an additional tax cut for companies that hire workers. Those measures together could cost about $200 billion next year.

Obama is also planning to propose $100 billion or more in spending on infrastructure, state and local aid and programs that target people who have been unemployed for more than six months, according to officials and other people familiar with the deliberations.

Not only will he pledge new spending to spur hiring, he is also likely to call for overhauling the way the government spends money. This could include an infrastructure bank that would pool tens of billions of federal dollars with state or private money to build roads and commercial buildings and to rehabilitate schools. Obama has suggested that the initiatives could lead to the hiring of one million unemployed construction workers.

The president is also planning to put a heavy emphasis on providing aid to hard-hit states and localities so they can hire teachers or avoid further layoffs, according to administration officials and other people familiar with the matter.

These proposals would come as the Federal Reserve, which is independent of the administration, is moving toward new steps of its own to give the economy a boost. With a pivotal meeting two weeks away, Fed officials are strongly considering measures aimed at lowering interest rates on mortgages, business investments and other kinds of long-term loans.

In unveiling his jobs program, Obama is planning to mention measures that the administration has undertaken lately to benefit the ailing housing market, including a program that helps reduce payments for jobless homeowners. As part of this housing effort, he is likely to call for a broader refinancing of mortgages in order to put hundreds of dollars back in the pockets of homeowners each month, administration officials said.

With the exception of the housing program, all the measures would require congressional approval. White House officials acknowledge that the full package has slim prospects of passing. Republicans are deeply skeptical of any new public spending.

But White House advisers say they’re confident that, at the very least, the payroll tax cut will be renewed because it so directly affects the take-home pay of middle-class workers. And they are hopeful that other ideas may gain traction, such as the infrastructure bank, which wouldn’t rely exclusively on federal funds.

David Axelrod, a close adviser to the president, said Obama will make clear that Republicans are to blame if they don’t agree to the jobs measures.

“People recognize the obstacles here and where they’re coming from. We don’t go up there with the anticipation that nothing will pass and nothing will work,” Axelrod said. “But Harry Truman once said if you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat. And that’s what the president is going to do.”

Next week, the president will announce detailed plans to offset the proposed federal spending with increased revenue and reductions in spending down the road.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Wednesday blasted the economic stimulus that Obama pushed through Congress two years ago and suggested that more big spending now would be a mistake.

“According to the president, anyone who opposes this agenda is playing partisan games,” McConnell said. “Well, the president can attempt to blame our economic problems all he wants on his political adversaries or his predecessors or on natural disasters. But at the end of the day, he’s the one, as he’s said himself, who’s responsible for what happens on his watch.”

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