President Barack Obama, who Monday proposed a $50 billion shot-in-the-arm to federal transportation spending, is expected today to announce two business-friendly tax breaks. One would be to increase and permanently extend a research and development tax credit. The other would offer an immediate tax write-off for new investments in plants and equipment, through 2011.

All the proposals are the sort of middle-of-the-road, sensible measures that in a different era would win bipartisan support. Alas, these are not those times.

Expect talk of out-of-control deficits and spending from congressional Republicans and right-wing radio and TV entertainers - although the $50 billion transportation proposal would not add to the deficit but be paid for through eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for oil and gas companies. With that big hit proposed for oil companies, it's likely millions of dollars aimed at defeating the measure will be funneled - although "fire hosed" might be a better image - from deep oil-industry pockets such as Kansas-based multibillionaires Charles and David Koch.

The transportation proposal, which Obama announced at a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee, aims to fix 150,000 miles of roads, lay or repair 4,000 miles of railroad tracks, refurbish 150 miles of airport runways and build a new air traffic navigation system. It would also create jobs in the hard-hit construction industry. But expect congressional problems here, as well, and not only from the GOP playbook that calls for stalling anything Obama proposes.

One piece of the proposal would create an infrastructure bank, to use public and private funds, that would dole money out on the basis of merit, not politics. "It will change the way Washington spends your tax dollars," Obama told the Milwaukee crowd, "reforming the haphazard and patchwork way we fund and maintain our infrastructure to focus less on wasteful earmarks and outdated formulas. ... "

It makes good sense and would lead to smarter federal spending. Yet while centrist Republicans such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg have favored such a bank, it's hard to envision many bacon-loving members of either party letting that one escape into law.

He's late to the game, but maybe the dire polling numbers for Democrats has, ahem, stimulated Obama to push harder to stimulate job-creation. Perhaps he's finally realized how many American households remain in dire straits through unemployment, under-employment or debt - or all of the above.

The $800 billion stimulus bill rushed through Congress in 2009 boosted overall employment by more than 3 million jobs. But this recession is stubborn. U.S. unemployment in August was 9.6 percent, driven up by the end of government jobs such as the Census and state and local layoffs.

Obama's motives in announcing his proposals are clearly political; even if they pass Congress they can't have an impact before the Nov. 2 elections. But if getting political also means getting rolling on some long-needed action to boost our ailing economy, that's good enough for us.