President Barack Obama channeled the national frustration with the economy that threatens his political standing and challenged the U.S. Congress to pass a $447 billion jobs plan tilted heavily toward the Republican prescription of tax cuts.

The president, speaking before a joint session of Congress, demanded six times that lawmakers act "right away" on a plan that would boost spending on infrastructure, stem teacher layoffs and cut in half the payroll taxes paid by workers and small business owners.

"The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy," Obama told the lawmakers yesterday.