Obama hits road to tout his initiatives

President Obama speaks at a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. Obama spoke about the American automotive and manufacturing sector during his visit to the Detroit area, the first stop of a scheduled three-day, three city tour in the lead up to the State of the Union address on Jan. 20. less President Obama speaks at a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Mich. Obama spoke about the American automotive and manufacturing sector during his visit to the Detroit area, the first stop of a scheduled three-day, ... more Photo: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Photo: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Obama hits road to tout his initiatives 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — Seizing on a recent burst of momentum, President Obama kicked off a three-state tour to unveil what the White House is calling “spoilers” from his State of the Union address, starting Wednesday with lower insurance premiums for government-backed mortgages.

Under the proposal, announced as Obama was flying to Michigan, the Federal Housing Administration will cut annual mortgage insurance premiums by 0.5 percentage point, to 0.85 percent. The White House said the reduction means new home buyers and those who refinance with the FHA would pay $900 less a year than they would otherwise, in a bid to help more Americans own their own homes.

The president later toured a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Mich., where he praised the $80 billion federal auto bailout in 2009, calling it a success story that shows government can work. He said that because of economic steps his administration took early on “we are entering the new year with new confidence that America is coming back.”

Obama planned to fly later to Phoenix — a symbol both of the housing market’s crash and its slow recovery. The mortgage insurance premium rate reduction was to be the centerpiece of his speech there on Thursday before he finishes his trip Friday in Tennessee, where he is expected to tout the state’s new policy to pay for community college tuition.

All three issues are expected to play central roles on Obama’s annual address to Congress, scheduled this year for Jan. 20.

A recent flurry of aggressive executive actions on domestic and foreign policy have energized the West Wing. With the economy growing and his approval rating creeping upward, Obama is searching for ways to prevent this spurt of momentum from being more than just a blip on the radar of his presidency’s waning years.

Not on Obama’s schedule during his first workweek of the new year: a meeting with the leaders of the Republican-led Congress, which officially began Tuesday. That won’t happen until early next week.

“I’m confident there are going to be areas where we disagree and there will be some pitched battles,” Obama said of the new GOP leadership, though he added that he was hopeful for a “productive 2015.”

The contours of the first fight were set within hours of the new Congress being gaveled into session. Republicans moved forward with plans to advance legislation approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline — and the White House vowed to veto the measure.

Beyond Keystone, the Republican priority list for 2015 includes making changes to Obama’s signature health care law, seeking to block his executive actions on immigration and rolling back environmental regulations favored by the White House.

On Wednesday, the White House said the president would also veto GOP-backed legislation that would increase the health care law’s definition of a full-time worker from 30 to 40 hours per week.

The president heads out on this week’s fly-around with his approval rating showing some signs of strengthening. After dropping to 40 percent in the Gallup daily tracking poll around election day, the latest survey shows 46 percent of Americans approve of the president’s job performance.