Before he leaves Team Obama will be busy scraping the people stuck to the bottom of the bus who he’s thrown under it.

(Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama plans a bus tour of the Midwest the week of Aug. 15 with a focus on jobs, a White House official said.

Jennifer Psaki, the White House deputy communications director, confirmed a report in today’s New York Times but didn’t offer any additional details. The president, after signing deficit-reduction legislation yesterday, said he would be turning his attention to “new jobs, higher wages and faster economic growth.”

Obama is heading to Chicago tonight for two campaign fund- raisers, the first time away from the Washington area since a June 28 trip to Bettendorf, Iowa, for a speech on manufacturing, jobs and the economy.