Obama: "Now That The Debt Ceiling Deal Is Done, It's Time To Focus On Jobs"

WASHINGTON -- Speaking just minutes after the Senate passed legislation to raise the debt ceiling -- removing the last political hurdle for that bill's passage -- President Barack Obama delivered a speech in the Rose Garden in which he once again pleaded for a renewed focus on jobs.

Sounding at times exasperated that the political conversation had veered so swiftly to the topic of austerity, Obama urged Congress to present him with job-creating bills as soon as it returned from its August recess. The specifics were pretty much the same as what the White House has stressed for weeks if not months: free trade agreements, patent reform, an infrastructure bank, regulatory changes and the extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.

"Growing the economy isn’t just about cutting spending, it is not about rolling back regulations that protect our air and water and keep people safe. That is not how we are going to get past this recession. We are going to have to do more than that," he said.