President Obama set out on a mission to revive the U.S. economy today. And, he made it clear that he won't let his Republican rivals stand in his way.

The president pressed GOP leaders to stop their "meaningless" assaults on the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and help him shrink income inequality and help America's middle class.

“With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop,” the president said in the first major economic address of his second term.

And, he said, he's going to act with or without them: “Where I can’t act on my own, and Congress isn’t cooperating, I’ll pick up the phone and call CEOs, I’ll call philanthropists, I’ll call college presidents, I’ll call labor leaders — I’ll call anybody who can help — and enlist them in our efforts."

Meantime, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell mocked the address as merely reheated presidential rhetoric.

“With all the buildup, you’d think the president was unveiling the next Bond film or something,” the Kentucky lawmaker said. “But in all likelihood it will be more like a midday rerun of some '70s B movie. Because we’ve heard it all before. It’s old.”
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