Rep. Mike Pence on Saturday called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to bring the House back into session “immediately” to allow for an up-or-down vote on preserving all current tax cuts.

“The American people should not have to wait one more day for Congress to act to prevent one of the largest tax increases in American history from taking effect,” the Indiana Republican said in his party’s weekly radio address. “The prosperity of the American people is more important than the political fortunes of any politician or any political party.”

Pence also said families “are hurting, American businesses are struggling. In the city and on the farm, the economic policies of this administration have failed.”

But President Barack Obama used his own weekly radio address to highlight several agenda items that he said would “grow the economy and spur hiring by businesses across America.”

Obama said he supports giving tax breaks to small businesses and domestic manufacturers.

“We should reward the people who are helping us lead in the industries of the future, like clean energy,” he said. “That’s how we’ll ensure that American innovation and ingenuity are what drive the next century. That’s how we’ll put our people back to work and lead the global economy. And that’s what I’ll be fighting for in the coming months.”

The president said the nation’s tax code for years has given billions of dollars in incentives to companies that move jobs overseas.

“I want to close these tax loopholes,” Obama said. “But Republicans in Washington have consistently fought to keep these corporate loopholes open. Over the last four years alone, Republicans in the House voted 11 times to continue rewarding corporations that create jobs and profits overseas — a policy that costs taxpayers billions of dollars every year.”

Obama added that he wants to give every business in America a tax break “so they can write off the cost of all new equipment they buy next year. That’s going to make it easier for folks to expand and hire new people.”

The president also wants to make permanent a tax credit for companies doing research and development — a policy that is widely backed in the business community.

Pence, however, said Obama’s agenda hasn’t worked.

“Wherever I go, everyday Americans tell me they’re tired of runaway federal spending, bailouts and takeovers,” the Congressman said. “The administration promised that if Congress borrowed a trillion dollars from future generations, their ‘stimulus’ bill would keep unemployment below 8 percent. Today unemployment remains at a heartbreaking 9.6 percent, making this the longest period that unemployment has been at or above 9.5 percent since the Great Depression. In September, the economy lost another 95,000 jobs. More than 14 million Americans are out of work and millions more have just quit looking for a job. The American people know more spending won’t mean more jobs.”

Although Obama acknowledged that “we need to do more,” he touted several measures, including a jobs bill.

“It eliminated the capital gains taxes for key investments in small businesses,” he said. “It increased the deduction to defray the costs of starting a company. And it’s freeing up credit for folks who need it. In fact, in just the first two weeks since I signed the bill, thousands of business owners have been able to get new loans through the [Small Business Administration].”