President Barack Obama shakes hands with the audience before remarks at the Milwaukee Laborfest in Milwaukee, Wisc. September 6, 2010.

President Obama will call on Wednesday for businesses to be allowed deduct from their taxes in 2010 through 2011 the full value of new capital equipment purchases  from computers to utility generators, to spur economic activity. On Monday the President proposed spending an additional $50bn on infrastructure investments.

The estimated cost of the tax measure is $200bn in revenues in over 2 years but would be $30bn over 10 years, according to administration officials, as businesses would deduct the value of the equipment over the decade. Obama will outline his 100% tax allowance plan on Wednesday in Cleveland in a speech on the economy. He will also urge Congress to permanently extend and expand a research and development tax credit for businesses. This plan would cost about $100bn over a decade

At a Labor Day union rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Obama proposed the $50bn investment infrastructure to provide funding for 150,000 miles of refurbished roads, 4,000 miles of high-speed rail and 150 miles of airport runway, along with improvements in air-traffic control technology.

Speaking about his agenda to strengthen the middle class after years of being beaten down -- by health insurance companies, by Wall Street, "even by banks making out like bandits on student loans" -- the President spoke passionately about what the fight has been like:

"And over the last two years, that’s meant taking on some powerful interests -- some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time.  And they’re not always happy with me.  They talk about me like a dog.  (Applause.)  That’s not in my prepared remarks, it’s just -- but it’s true."

Obama and many congressional Democrats are opposed to renewing expiring tax cuts for high earners and they want to eliminate the current 33% and 35% rates and return them to pre-Bush levels of 36% and 39.6%.

The House and Senate return from recess next week with a separate, small-business lending measure as their first priority. The lawmakers plan to leave Washington again after only a few weeks in session to campaign ahead of the midterm elections due on Nov. 2nd.