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Obama and the GOP

By Jay Newton-Small | @JNSmall | January 28, 2009 | +

Here’s the latest from me on yesterday’s circus on the Hill. The House is expected to vote on their $816 billion stimulus package today and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office warned yesterday that the Senate may be in on Saturday debating their $850 billion version – much to the disappointment of senators looking to go home for Superbowl weekend. The Senate could vote as early as next Tuesday which would give Congress nearly two weeks to reconcile the two versions – a conference, I’m told, the Obama folks want to be deeply involved in. Even if Obama ends up getting only a handful or no House GOP votes – he could get more support in the Senate – he can still say he worked with the GOP, took in their ideas and made every effort, which is, in part, what this outreach is all about. Part of it is also a first step in the long process, like turning-an-aircraft-carrier long, of undoing some of the bitter rancor that has paralyzed Washington. As Obama told reporters coming out of the Senate meeting yesterday:

We’re not going to get 100% agreement and we might not even get a 50% agreement but I do think that people appreciate me walking them through my thought process about the bill. I hope that I communicated my sincere desire to get good ideas from everybody. And my attitude is that this is the first major piece of legislation that we’ve been working on on the Hill and that over time some of these habits of consultation and mutual respect will take over. But old habits die hard. 

[...]

The main thing is to make sure everybody understands how urgent the situation is. That the problems our economy faces are not going to go away easily. We’ve got to deal with them swiftly and seriously and that’s what my administration is committed to doing and that’s not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, that’s an American issue.

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  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Fascinating.
    .
    It’s sure throwing the commenters off-balance.
    After all, after 8 years of obstruction followed by 8 years of obstinate in-your-face idiocy, it’s surprising that Obama even thinks it’s worth the effort to begin to deal with these folks.
    .
    But thene again, he’s the one who spent the last two years face to face with voters so he might have a better feel for what people want than I could hope to muster.

  • gysgt213

    JNS-Forbes is reporting the below.
    .
    Hours earlier, according to officials who were present at a GOP meeting, none of the Republicans in attendance spoke up in disagreement when urged to oppose the legislation by their leaders. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the party’s leader, and Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second in command, said they wanted “100 percent” opposition to the measure, which they argue includes billions in wasteful spending, these officials said.
    .
    http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/01/27/ap5973551.html

  • plukasiak

    Is Obama really this naive?
    _
    2010 is coming up, and given that the states will be redistricting with the governors and legislators who get elected in 2010, the GOP will be pulling out all the stops to retain/regain control of that process. That means tearing down the Democratic Party not just locally, but on the national level…
    _
    So while Obama takes out good ideas (like family planning funds) from his “recovery” package, and inserts bad ones (tax cuts) to provide the illusion of post-partisanship, and the Villagers applaud his efforts, the GOP will continue to do everything it can to undermine the Democratic Party, and place blame for the continuing negative impact of eight years of GOP misrule on Obama and the Dems. (“We gave Obama what he wanted, and look what has happened!!”)
    _
    By pursuing this post-partisan strategy, Obama is setting himself up for Village condemnation if/when he does try to emphasize that it was GOP misrule that created the problems that will be at issue in 2010…

  • http://elvisberg.wordpress.com Elvis Elvisberg

    Obama is a conciliatory person by nature. The GOP, though, is hopelessly extreme, combative, and unpopular. The article notes that Obama bowed to conservative carping over contraception, but doesn’t note that this makes no sense from a policy perspective.
    -
    I hope that Obama the pragmatic problem-solver gets the better of Obama the conciliator, and grows tired of giving into nonsensical demands from the GOP.

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Many on the left believe…..
    Whenever I see this phrase I know that absurdity is likely to follow.
    Of course, when dealing with “many on the left” it’s important to lump everyone together lest we think that the people who are pleased with Obama’s civil liberties executive orders might be a different group than the ones who think he’s being an idiot for compromising.
    .
    You have no trouble getting actual quotes from Republican house members. How about having an actual conversation with of those “many’s”.

  • http://elvisberg.wordpress.com Elvis Elvisberg

    Paul Dirks, I agree with your point generally on the passive voice. In this case, though, I don’t think it’s unfair at all to say that “Many on the left believe he is wasting his time and giving away too much in trying to woo Republicans who in the end will vote against the final package regardless.” You’re right, though, that it’d be better practice to quote one of them.
    -
    Dunno if I’m on the left, or if DougJ of Balloon Juice is, but that wasting-his-time theory sure seems plausible.

  • 53_3

    When dealing with the world, you talk softly and carry a big stick. When dealing with the GOP, you talk softly and carry a big brain.

  • 53_3

    I think he is exactly right to want to pare those programs from the bill. It’s not that I am against them, but Obama has to have political capital and momentum in his favor when it comes to pushing the social agenda later.
    .
    It’s great to have a running back that can run straight up the middle, and it’s great to have such good blockers, but wait for Obama to get in a few passes to open up the field a bit so we can really tear off yardage when it comes to social programs.
    .
    After all, we know where the GOP stands on those issues…

  • http://smoothlikeremy.blogspot.com/ sgwhiteinfla

    Paul Dirks
    .
    In overwhelming majority of instances where “many on the left” is invoked I would totally agree with you. But this time JNS probably actually hit it on the head.
    .
    Many on the left believe he is wasting his time and giving away too much in trying to woo Republicans who in the end will vote against the final package regardless.
    .
    At the very least I know that I am in that “many” she referred to.

  • Joe Bftsplk

    JNS, thanks for the article & posting — it’s a good topic to be considered.

  • Art Pepper

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office warned yesterday that the Senate may be in on Saturday
    -
    That can only mean they will all be flying home to their families on Friday morning.

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    My complaint isn’t that her summary of ‘many on the left’ is innaccurate. My complaint is that it’s a summary. It reinforces the notion that certain viewpoints are barely worth mentioning and certainly not worth detailing.

  • Jay Newton-Small

    gysgt213:
    The House Republicans will likely unanimously, or as near to unanimously as they can come, vote against the House bill today and Obama yesterday expressed sympathy for them on Pelosi’s bill which was largely written before Obama took office and isn’t his ideal, either. What he’s trying to garner is their support and involvement for the final product, which the House is expected to vote on the week of Feb. 9.
    JNS

  • Jay Newton-Small

    Paul Dirks:
    The story is about the GOP and Obama. For sake of space I truncated that section and cut out a quote. But, you’re right that it is a viewpoint worth mentioning and I pla on writing about it later this week.
    JNS

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    JNS,
    I look forward to it.
    Based on the commentary on KT’s thread above I’d say that the notion that Obama is beiong too accomodating seems pretty widespread.

  • Cliff

    the notion that Obama is beiong too accomodating seems pretty widespread
    .
    I would agree with everyone on this, except that during the campaign every time I thought it was time for Obama to give the Republicans a dose of the rage-ohol, he turned around and played it cool. So I’m expecting this same thing to happen again.
    .
    Of course, governing is different than campaigning, so it’ll be interesting to see whether this strategy works again.

  • pierogielunaire

    All I know is that the more John Boehner is the face of the Republican Party, the better it is for Democrats. These guys are always opposed to spending on infrastructure except when it is in Iraq. I think it’s great that Obama is trying to reason with them in such a public and conciliatory way; they will look all the more out of step when they oppose the bailout.

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