U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday increased his pressure on Congressional lawmakers to pass transportation legislation he said would protect almost one million American jobs. "Allowing this bill to expire would be a disaster for our infrastructure and our economy," Obama said during his weekly radio address. His comments followed a monthly employment report that showed the economy created no jobs in August. Obama is set to deliver a major speech on Thursday on how he would boost hiring and growth, but is also working to bring down a jobless rate stuck at 9.1 percent in an effort to improve his chances of winning a second presidential term next year. Repeating a message he issued in the White House Rose Garden earlier this week, Obama urged lawmakers to pass multibillion-dollar temporary funding bills for aviation and highway projects, or risk heaping more pain on the economy. "If it's delayed for just 10 days, we will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding that we can never get back. And if we wait even longer, almost 1 million workers could be in danger of losing their jobs over the next year," he said. Republicans say they support an extension of the highway bill and view Obama's words as a way to deflect criticism over the economy away from the White House and toward Congress.
