Two articles:

Obama renews call for passage of jobs bill

President Barack Obama on Thursday renewed his call for Senate Republicans to stop blocking a jobs bill intended to help small businesses.

Amid rising jobless claims, Obama hits GOP for blocking small-business bill

"This is a bill that makes sense, and [I] would expect Republicans and Democrats to come together" but "a partisan minority has blocked it from coming up," Obama said.

The president said he can understand when Republicans and Democrats disagree on the merits of legislation, but "this is not one of those times."

"A majority of senators are in favor of the bill, and yet the obstruction continues," he added. "It's obstruction that defies common sense."