Peosta , Iowa ( CNN ) -- President Barack Obama laced into his conservative Republican congressional critics Tuesday , accusing them of putting partisan political concerns before the country 's interests . Appearing before a crowd of farmers and small-business owners in the presidential battleground state of Iowa , Obama called on Congress to help boost an anemic economy by passing an extension of the payroll tax cut and a new road construction bill , among other things . `` America is going to come back from this recession stronger than before , '' the president declared . But I `` need your help sending a message to Congress '' that `` it 's time to put politics aside and get something done , '' he said . Elements in Congress refuse to `` put country ahead of faction , '' Obama said . It is time to `` put country ahead of party and put the next generation ahead of the next election . That 's what I 'm fighting for . '' Obama 's latest salvo against tea party-backed Republicans came in the midst of the president 's three-day Midwestern bus tour , ostensibly meant to promote administration 's new rural economic development initiatives . The president is scheduled to discussed a number of political and economic issues during a one-on-one interview with CNN 's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday afternoon . Among other things , the administration is pushing $ 350 million in additional Small Business Administration funding to rural small businesses over the next five years . The White House is also working to promote greater venture capital investment in rural startups and using more than 2,800 U.S. Agriculture Department offices nationwide to help publicize job opportunities . Loans from the Department of Health and Human Services are being made available to help recruit staff members to 1,300 rural hospitals . The initiatives are based on recommendations from the White House Rural Council , which Obama created in June to report on rural America 's economic climate . Obama 's trip to Peosta , Iowa , followed stops in both Minnesota and Iowa on Monday . On Wednesday , the president will host a pair of town hall forums in his home state of Illinois . The first family is then scheduled to depart for a vacation in Martha 's Vineyard , Massachusetts , on Thursday . Obama 's remarks on Tuesday echoed comments he made Monday , in which he slammed partisan politics and called on lawmakers to prioritize economic growth . `` The problem we have is not with our country . The problem is that our politics is broken , '' he said at a town hall meeting in Decorah , Iowa . `` There are a whole host of ideas that we could be implementing right now that traditionally have had bipartisan support . The only thing that is preventing us from passing them is that there are some folks in Congress who think that doing something in cooperation with me , or this White House , that that somehow is bad politics . '' The president said he will release a detailed plan to boost the economy , create jobs and control the country 's deficit when Congress returns to Washington in September . He began his tour with a town hall meeting before a supportive crowd at a riverside Minnesota park in Cannon Falls . Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus on Monday blasted the Midwest swing as nothing more than a campaign event thinly disguised as an extended public policy discussion . `` He 's spending taxpayers ' dollars on a bus tour disguised as some kind of economic event for the country when we all know that it 's a campaign event paid for by the taxpayers , '' Preibus said . Earlier , the Republican National Committee issued a `` briefing book '' on the trip made to resemble one produced by the administration in which it mockingly described the trip as `` a totally non-political taxpayer-funded administration event that just happens to criss-cross several battleground states critical to the president 's reelection . '' GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney 's campaign posted a message to his website that was similarly critical . `` During his Magical Misery bus tour this week , it is unlikely President Obama will speak with unemployed Americans , to near-bankrupt business owners or to families struggling to survive in this economy , '' the statement reads . `` He is more interested in campaigning in swing states than working to solve the economic crisis that is crushing the middle class . '' Administration officials defended the trip last week , saying it was not political in nature . It was meant as an opportunity for Obama to visit with residents in their own communities to talk about national economic policy , they said . `` That is n't just an appropriate thing for a president to do , it 's something that a president should do , '' Josh Earnest , Obama 's principal deputy press secretary , said Friday . At the Cannon Falls meeting , Obama hit on recent themes blaming economic problems in part on turmoil in the Mideast , debt problems in Europe and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan , but he said the biggest problem was intransigence in Washington , particularly among Republicans unwilling to accept any tax increases to help solve the nation 's budget problems . He also touched on education , health care reform and other topics . CNN 's Alan Silverleib contributed to this report . Watch The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer weekdays at 4pm to 6pm ET and Saturdays at 6pm ET . For the latest from The Situation Room click here .
NEW : Obama continues to put partisan concerns before national issues . Obama hosts a rural economic forum in Georgia . The state is his second in a three - state tour . GOP critics say the trip is a thinly disguised , well - funded political trip .