LEESBURG, Va. -- President Obama said the country would be "setting our sights low" and "settling for something less" if voters choose his opponent Mitt Romney-- and Romney's proposed economic plan-- in November.



Speaking before a crowd of 3,000 in this Washington suburb, Obama decried Romney's plan which he said would cut education spending, slash investment in science, voucherize Medicare--adding to the deficit--- and ask the middle class to pay an extra $2,000 so "folks at the top can get another big tax break."



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"They will do exactly what they promised," Obama said of Republicans. "But you know what it means is that, that vision to me means we're setting our sights low. It means we're settling for something else. It means that we're no longer embracing the basic tenant that helped make this country great and that is that everybody can make it and everyone does their fair share, everybody gets a fair shot. Everybody is playing by the same set of rules."During his 25-minute speech, Obama--who has been to Virginia 39 times during his presidency-- said the nation shouldn't return to the policies of former President George W. Bush, which he said led to the worst economy since the Great Depression.He attributed part of his win in 2008 to frustration from voters, who weren't satisfied with Bush policies: "Let's face it, part of the reason why we had so much energy in 2008 was because we understood we had seen a decade where that basic bargain wasn't being met," he said.But he said the policies he has put in place during his administration would help continue to strengthen the middle class in his second term, should he be reelected."It's given us a sense of what it means to move forward and not back," he said.At the same time, a day before the July jobs numbers are released, Obama acknowledged that there is some frustration that the economy under his administration isn't growing fast enough."No one's satisfied with the pace of growth," he said "No one's satisfied even with all the jobs we've created. We've got to create more."Obama is expected to address the jobs numbers at the White House on Friday.



