In a rare address to a joint session of Congress, Mr Obama is expected to propose a short-term stimulus package of tax cuts, infrastructure spending and federal handouts to state governments.
"I'm going to propose ways to put America back to work that both parties can agree to, because I still believe both parties can work together to solve our problems," the president said earlier this week.
However in a move bound to set up another fierce battle with Republicans, whose potential presidential candidates were preparing last night to pre-emptively denounce his plan in a televised debate in California, he is also expected to say tax revenues must increase in the coming years.
Mr Obama's speech, his opening gambit of the new political season and scheduled with prime-time television broadcasts in mind, comes amid fresh lows in public ratings of his presidency.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll found 53 per cent of Americans disapproved of his performance, while a Politico/George Washington University survey found three-quarters of voters now believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. » | Jon Swaine, Richard Blackden in New York | Wednesday, September 07, 2011
