It's been an especially rough week for President Barack Obama and his administration, as they have had to deal with three scandals all breaking at the same time.
On a short trip to Baltimore, the president tried to steer the discussion away from the scandals to focus on the revitalization of the nation's job market.
While citing several signs that the economy is in recovery the president emphasized that "our focus cannot drift" away from the remaining work that needs to be done, according to the Associated Press.
"We're now poised for progress, but our work is not done and our focus cannot drift," Obama said. "We've got to stay focused on our economy and putting people back to work and raising wages and bringing manufacturing back to the United States of America."
The Associated Press reports that the president made a visit to Ellicott Dredges, a company that produces equipment for under water excavation, to discuss the three areas most in need of investment in order to rebuild a strong middle class; jobs, skills and opportunity.
Obama made a veiled reference to the scandals that have been dogging him this past week while reiterating his pledge to support the middle class.
"Others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by," Obama said. "But the middle class will always be my number one focus. Period. Your jobs, your families and your communities."
Obama was hoping that his visit to the dredging company would give him an opportunity to tout the $50 billion that he wants to invest into improving and modernizing the nation's aging infrastructure, according to Bloomberg.
Instead the president may end up having to turn his focus to the Keystone XL pipeline that has been a hot button issue for months. The president of Ellicott Dredges, Peter Bowe, recently testified before the House that the delay in building the Keystone XL pipeline has hurt his company.
The pipeline which would connect Canadian oil fields to Texan oil refineries is a favorite of Republicans while most democrats and environmentalists staunchly oppose its creation, according to Bloomberg.
Maryland has been doing better than many other states when it comes to job creation, although they did suffer a setback in the most recent job numbers after four months of consecutive growth, according to the Associated Press.
"Last year we had the best-rated job creation of any state in our region and we have very nearly recovered 100 percent of the jobs that we lost during the recession," Governor Martin O'Malley said of his state.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., was critical of the president's trip saying it was nothing more than a photo-op, according to the Associated Press. Harris would go on to say that the administration needs to stop dragging its feet and delaying the Keystone XL pipeline.
"That would boost jobs at Ellicott Dredges, but other than that, it's just going to be another photo-op on a campaign-style tour when the president should be in Washington tending to the nation's business and to address the huge scandals that are popping up on a daily basis in Washington," Harris said.
