Obama pushes to lure jobs back from overseas

WASHINGTON – In a push for more private sector hiring, President Obama convened a White House forum Wednesday with business executives and members of his Cabinet on how to increase employment and bring back jobs that have fled overseas.

The White House gave the session a high profile just one day after Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire Republican primary, solidifying his lead over the GOP presidential field. Romney has targeted Obama as a foe of free enterprise. Obama's forum aims in part to counter that message.

"I'm calling on those businesses that haven't brought jobs back to take this opportunity to get the American people back to work," Obama says in prepared remarks released in advance.

Obama is highlighting big and small firms ranging from Ford to a North Carolina specialty furniture company as examples of enterprises that have invested in the U.S. rather than abroad.

Obama is calling on other companies to do the same with the help of government incentives.

The White House says the president will propose $12 million in his 2013 budget to promote business investment from overseas in the United States.