Barack Obama distanced himself from a deeply divided U.S. Congress blaming some of the nation’s continuing economic troubles on government inaction

US President Barack Obama distanced himself from a deeply divided U.S. Congress on Thursday blaming some of the nation's continuing economic troubles on government inaction and urging Americans to tell their elected representatives in Washington to pass bills that will create jobs.

Obama pledged to deliver fresh ideas to create jobs and slammed lawmakers for "bickering" that gets in the way of recovery.

In a passionate speech to auto workers in Michigan, Obama described last week's U.S. credit rating downgrade as "a self-inflicted wound" and said the refusal on Capitol Hill to put country ahead of party was suppressing the economy.

Obama said the U.S. economy and American workers are capable of being the best in the world, but were being held back by political stalemate in Congress.

"There are some in Congress right now who would rather see their opponents lose than see America win. And that has to stop," he told a crowd at Johnson Controls.

"I'm going to be putting out more proposals, week by week, that will help businesses hire and put people back to work," he told the Michigan event.

Now the United States is under market pressure to slash it or face higher funding costs.

Obama blamed the market gyrations on forces beyond his control, noting European financial turmoil was "lapping up" on U.S. shores and saying the S&P downgrade "could have been entirely avoided" if Congress had been willing to compromise.