The Hill News

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) praised President Obama's new jobs plan and said that Obama clearly had the African-American community in mind while he was making it.

"He heard us. As a matter of fact we can see our hand print all over this proposal. We're pleased about it," Waters said Friday on MSNBC.

In August, before a town-hall audience in Detroit, Waters drew attention for saying that the black community still supported Obama but had been getting tired.

"We’re supportive of the president, but we getting tired, y’all. Getting tired," Waters said in August.

She also questioned why Obama was not visiting any predominately black communities during his Midwest jobs tour in which he had planned to promote his then-yet-to-be-unveiled jobs plan.

"We don't know why on this trip that he's in the United States now, he’s not in any black community. We don't know that," Waters added.

Waters said the Cong! ressional Black Caucus wished that Obama's plan was "even bigger."

"But it is substantial. Not only is it substantial, it targets the communities in the infrastructure repair that's the central part of this proposal and basically he's going to these communities most in need," Waters said during the Friday interview. "Of course, this jobs proposal is for everybody, but this targeting to communities of need will certainly help uplift the community that is most in need: African-American communities with 16.7 unemployment, up to 45 percent youth that are unemployed."

On Thursday, Obama unveiled a new $447 billion job-creation plan that cuts back the employee payroll tax cut, creates a national infrastructure bank and extends unemployment insurance benefits for another year.

Democrats praised Obama's speech when he announced his new proposal, dubbed the "American Jobs Act." Republicans seemed to offer a subdued but not entirely antagonistic rea! ction to the plan.