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 Hoping to build momentum for social policies he laid out in a
defiant State of the Union speech, the Democratic president went to
two politically conservative states to show his policies appeal to
Americans from both main parties.
In Kansas, where Obama's mother was born, he joked that his roots in
the state did not help his two campaigns for the White House.
Lawrence, home to the University of Kansas, is a rare
Democratic-leaning part of the state.
"I lost two straight here. But that's OK," Obama said to an
enthusiastic crowd of more than 7,000 at a university athletic
facility. "I might've won sections of Lawrence."
The White House is hoping some of that enthusiasm could be
telegraphed to a Republican-controlled Congress that is lukewarm to
many of Obama's policy ideas.
 His childcare proposals include a fund to help families afford care,
raising the maximum childcare tax credit to $3,000 per young child,
and starting an "innovation fund" to jumpstart childcare programs
for parents who live in rural areas or who work odd hours.
"It is time that we stop treating childcare as a side issue or a
'women's issue,'" Obama said. "This is a family issue. This is a
national economic priority for all of us. We can do better than
we're doing right now."
The estimated $80 billion proposal would be part of Obama's broader
tax reform announced last week, White House Domestic Policy Director
Cecilia Muñoz told reporters on a call on Thursday. In Washington,
a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner
criticized Obama's State of the Union plans for social programs that
include making two years of community college free and universally
available.
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"Republicans are all for increasing access to quality, affordable
education, but we don't need more top-down policies from Washington
or new tax hikes on middle-income families saving for their
children's college education," spokesman Cory Fritz said.
The White House often sets up events on Obama's trips to illustrate
his policy priorities, and Thursday's was at a Lawrence school that
was among the first recipients of funding for the government's Head
Start early education program.
"What's your name?" one youngster asked the president. "I'm Barack!"
he responded.
(This story has been refiled to add dollar sign in eighth paragraph)
(Additional reporting by Julia Edwards in Washington; Editing by
John Whitesides, Howard Goller and Richard Chang)
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