Mr. Obama’s suggestion that power balance businesses

Mr. Obama’s suggestion that power balance businesses can help the economy recover by spending their reserves was met with skepticism by some in the audience. Harold Jackson, a executive at Buffalo Supply Inc., a medical supply company, called it naïve.

“Any business person has to look at the demand to their company for their product and services, and make hiring decisions,” Mr. Jackson said. “I think it’s a little outside the bounds to suggest that if we hire people we don’t need, there will be more demand.”

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader in the Senate, said in remarks Monday that “we’ll just have to wait and see whether the administration’s actions support its rhetoric.” Mr. McConnell urged Mr. Obama to prove his intentions to help the business community by doing more to push free trade agreements with Colombia and Panama.

At the same time, Mr. Obama’s cheap power balance decision to address the chamber in the first place has upset liberal groups, who say the president is consorting with the very forces they believe have worked to undercut his policies.

Public Citizen, a liberal group in Washington, issued a statement condemning the president’s comment that he would “go anywhere” in the world to promote trade, a line that prompted one of the few moments of applause from the crowd of business leaders.

“It’s unclear what is more mortifying: President Barack Obama choosing the club of America’s notorious job-offshorers to talk about the importance of creating American jobs, or his rallying of his fiercest political opponents to help him overcome the majority of Americans who oppose more-of-the-same job-killing trade agreements,” said Lori Wallach, the director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

Erica Payne, the founder of the Agenda Project, a liberal organization in New York, said: “Two weeks ago, the president promised that he would work to rebuild people’s faith in government. Meeting with the biggest lobbyists in the country is hardly a step in the right direction.”

In an interview after Mr. Obama’s speech, Ms. Payne said the president’s speech had “many words, little content.” power balance wholesale