Obama to Promote Jobs Bill at Town Hall Today

With 14 million Americans unemployed, the urgency of job creation has taken center stage, and President to drive home the point.

"This is an opportunity for the president to continue what has been a focused effort since the joint session speech that he gave to Congress, to explain and discuss with the people the American Jobs Act that he has put forward," said Brian Deese, deputy director of the National Economic Council, about the "." 

At the town hall, which takes place at 11 a.m. Monday at the , Obama will take questions from users, "a community that is obviously focused on the economy and what has been our focus, job growth," Deese said. The president's digital strategy team aims to use the latest technology to learn what people care about and use it to spread the president's message.

"When the White House approached us with an opportunity to host the event, we were obviously thrilled," said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, whose  connects 120 million worldwide. "A big part of connecting talent with opportunity is helping to close the gap of talent and opportunity in this country."

According to Weiner, who cites a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of job openings the end of July was 3.2 million. He said his company can effectively help people get one of those jobs.

With a 9.1 percent national unemployment rate—12.1 percent in California—to provide an incentive for job creation, Obama's bill purports to cut payroll taxes by 50 percent for every worker and small business, cut taxes for the typical working family by $1,500, give a tax credit to businesses that hire veterans and give an additional tax cut to small businesses that either hire more workers or raise those workers’ wages.

With a reinvigorated workforce, Obama hopes to improve the nation's infrastructure, construct new public schools and encourage innovation.

NASA Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden, who welcomed Obama Sunday at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, said he hopes that during the president's next visit he's able to show him the innovations at Ames.

"It was a pleasure to chat with him about some of the ways that NASA and Ames Research Center are implementing his vision for innovation and education," Worden said. "We look forward to the possibility of a future visit so that we can show him firsthand some of the technologies that we are developing that both serve NASA missions and benefit the quality of life on Earth for all Americans."

Similarly, Deese explained that because of the innovative companies in Silicon Valley that have taken advantage of the Internet to connect people, the president continues to visit the region.

"We can't be everywhere at once, so we look for opportunities like this one to take to the Internet and have a much broader reach," he said.

This will be the president's first visit to the Computer History Museum, according to a museum spokeswoman, which holds a treasure trove of Silicon Valley's innovative past.

"It is a tremendous privilege for the museum to have a visit from President Obama," said Carina Sweet. "We were thrilled to learn the news that he would be coming to the museum and are very much looking forward to the visit."