President Obama previews jobs speech

In a Labor Day speech in front of a union crowd in Detroit, President Barack Obama previewed the jobs speech he's scheduled to give on Thursday before Congress, and issued a challenge to the Republican party, saying "the time for Washington games is over."

Obama said that roads and bridges in the U.S. need rebuilding, and over 1 million unemployed construction workers are ready to do the work, The New York Times reports. He called on Congress to move quickly to create jobs.

"But we're not going wait for them," he said. "We're going to see if we've got some straight shooters in Congress. We're going to see if congressional Republicans will put country before party."

The President also suggested he'd call for an extension of the temporary reduction in the payroll tax that workers pay, which is set to expire on January 1.

"You say you're the party of tax cuts," Obama said, referring to Republicans. "Well, then prove you'll fight just as hard for tax cuts for middle class families as you do oil companies and the most affluent Americans. Show us what you've got."

The Wall Street Journal argued that the speech's tone was more important than its content.

It was feisty and framed in part as a challenge to Republicans to join his jobs push and, as the president put it, to prove they care as much about the middle class as they say they do.

"I still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems," Obama said. "Given the urgency of this moment, given the hardship families are facing, we've got to get together."

On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department issued a worse-than-expected jobs report showing that the country added no new net jobs in August, and revising down job growth figures from June and July.

Obama gave his speech at an event hosted annually by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO. Reuters reports that around 13,000 people showed up, with many chanting "Four more years."