Bipartisan or Bi-posturing? Obama Convenes A Rectangular Table

Not much can get accomplished when Republicans basically walk away en masse from anything that deviates from their own proposals, whether it’s jobs or health care.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

Thanks so much for the excuse to link to your own blog, Captain Obvious.

Can’t agree with your characterization, @Matt. Your own blog reported that Mr. Gibbs (WH PS) just said that “… a step back to square one is not going to happen.” Gibbs said the president has “been very clear” in supporting the bills in the House and Senate and that he will not “walk away from reform.”

That’s equally pig-headed and I request that you acknowledge it. The Democrats have been enormously partisan for this past year and they will reap the consequences. At this point, Mr. Obama will be a very lucky snowball if he has the opportunity to give a SotU in 2013.

I despise what the GOP gave us for eight years, but this is every bit as rotten.

“move forward in a more bipartisan fashion” in general, because it’s “fair to say the American people are frustrated’ with the lack of progress on a number of fronts. “A good place to start,” he said, is talking about a jobs package, adding that he hopes the House and Senate can get something moving in the next few weeks. He also said he hopes to get bipartisan agreement on “the issue of getting the deficit and debt under control.” Also said, “I’m going to spend some time listening.”

.
Frustrated? No, now what would make you think that, Mr President?
.
Debt? You mean 12.5 TRILLION dollars, the highest ever in spending. You mean bankrupt just like California is? You mean you finally realize that out of control spending by the Government does not work?
.
Listening? I’ll believe it when it happens. When the teleprompter goes blank for the next few months and we start to see action and less talk.

How have the Dems been every bit as rotten in partisanship as the Republicans have?
-
The Republican have been a nigh-monolithic bloc voting against everything the Dems propose and busting out the filibuster in record numbers. Obama and the Dems have been ridiculously accomodating, especially Blue Dogs, who have gone on record to withhold their votes on important bills until they can ‘get a bill that will receive Republican votes’. Whereas Republicans have made demands that, when met, only end up with Republicans decrying the new, compromised measures as just as socialist and communist and evil as previous measures, even though EVERY SINGLE DEMAND THEY MADE TO CHANGE THE BILL WAS IN THERE. Look at the health care bill from the Senate!
-
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/02/five_compronises_in_health_car.html
-
I still don’t understand how anyone can say that Democrats have been dismissive of Republican ideas, or that Obama’s been some wild-eyed evil partisan bent on locking the Republicans out of everything, and still manage a straight face.

The Democrats have been enormously partisan for this past year and they will reap the consequences.
…
I despise what the GOP gave us for eight years, but this is every bit as rotten.
.
So, dewild1, the Dems have been enormously partisan for this past year… and the Repubs have been… open, full of new ideas, innovative, imaginative, WHAT???
.
If the Dems are going to be punished for being partisan, what will be the Repubs penalty for such similar activity over the past decade?
.
Who do you believe will benefit from the Dem’s extreme partisanship? Sarah Palin? The Tea Partiers? Ron Paul?
.
Although you claim to despise the GOP, sounds like you expect them to be the beneficiaries of what has been happening. Are you prepared to reward them for essentially “just saying No” at the policy level and enabling the economic catastrophe that has just happened?

Gibbs said the president has “been very clear” in supporting the bills in the House and Senate and that he will not “walk away from reform.”

That’s equally pig-headed and I request that you acknowledge it.

You’re joking, right? You are equating the President’s desire to move forward on a bill that has already passed both chambers of Congress to the Republican’s across the board rejection of all legislation that they did not explicitly write. How is that equal?

Two things, technically an oval is still round, just not circular, and secondly as long as meetings like these take away the argument of republicans that we’re not even invited (don’t know what Baucus was doing for 3 months) then they are worthwhile.

I have some very serious concerns about the HCR Summit format as presented by President Obama.
My concern is that I really believe there is a need for genuine HCR. It’s something the country badly needs and can only be passed by congress if both sides truly work together to make it happen.
The format of the meeting appears to be more of a debate format than a working session to try and come together on reform. In a debate format one side wins and one side loses.
This format appears to me to be one more effort on the part of the president to attempt to sell his HCR plan. It doesn’t lend itself to being a bipartisan working meeting and will only end up polarizing the two parties even more then they are currently.
It appears to me that President Obama and the Democrats still have not given up on the idea of pushing through their version of HCR. This will only lead to another failure at reform. The American people do not want the reform that the Democrats are trying to push down their throats. Obama seems to think that if he explains it one more time that the citizens will finally understand what’s good for them. They do understand and don’t want this current plan as it is written. The President needs to stop talking and start listening to the American people.

It’s something the country badly needs and can only be passed by congress if both sides truly work together to make it happen.

So how would you characterize the Republican’s voting strictly along party lines?

The format of the meeting appears to be more of a debate format than a working session to try and come together on reform. In a debate format one side wins and one side loses.

Are saying that you are worried that debating HCR gives unfair advantage to those who know what they are talking about and come prepared to defend their ideas? How do you vet proposals without debating them? The President pointed out at least half a dozen parts of the current bills that came from Republicans. If the Republicans wanted to have a larger impact on the current bills they shouldn’t have spent all of last year screaming about death panels, government control of Medicare (doh!), and socialism (pro-tip: we have a lot of socialized things). The only Republican who has put forth a legitimate debatable proposal only did so last week (and his numbers don’t work, but the idea has merit).

The American people do not want the reform that the Democrats are trying to push down their throats.

That’s pure bunk. The latest polls still show a majority of Americans want Congress to continue with comprehensive HCR (proof). Your partisan colors start to really show as you go on to rail against the President without evening mentioning the Republicans. As the polls show, more people believe the Republicans are doing too little than the President doing too little. The only majority of people who do not want anything is the Republicans.

dwilde1,
Good post. We need to get the country moving in a positive direction. Blaming Bush for everything is not moving us forward. GWB jumped off a cliff so I have to also jump off a cliff doesn’t make any sense.
It’s time for the President to get off the Progressive kick and use some common sense to move the country forward.
You might find my post 1.3 interesting on the Swampland article titled ” The More Things Change: Looking back On Presidential Calls for Bipartisanship.

Kryptik1,
dwilde1 speaks from experience.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
As a liberal you see everything that Obama does as beautiful.
As a conservative, I see the direction Obama and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party want to take our country and I see the Dictatorship of European Socialism.
It’s all in your perspective, how old you might be and what your world experiences are.

It’s all in your perspective, how old you might be and what your world experiences are.

You forgot the degree with which one is misinformed. As appears to be the case with you.

hotbbq,
I believe the award for most uninformed goes to you. You finally came in first at something in your life. Hope that makes you feel important. You are lacking in the wisdom to be informed. True wisdom consists of a combination of Education and Experience. You are obviously missing one or both of these qualities.

Wow. That’s mighty deep. What is is about your experiences that keeps you from using any measure of reason or logical thought process? Simply being old in years is insufficient to make one wise.

hotbbq,
I have the experience of an open mind something that you oviously do not posses. But you will learn over time. God is not done with you yet.

Again, how does old age equate to having an open mind? If I were as old as you, would I have a similar opinion as you? My parents and grandparents are many in years and they don’t hold the same beliefs as you. Are they not open minded too?

Perhaps you feel I don’t have an open mind because I don’t agree with you? It could be that the self professed “conservatives” on Swampland cannot seem to give me a qualitative argument on why you think your ideas are more sound?

Further more, could you help me understand what your God has to do with me, HCR, budget deficits, civil liberties, or any other such topic that might be discussed on Swampland? If I do not believe in God, would that preclude me from having an open mind?

According to a new Rasmussen Survey.
61% of voters say Congress should scrap the current HCR plan and start over again.
28% believe it would be better to build on the current HCR plan.
54% say Congress should wait to pass a bill until voters select new congressional representatives in November.
Now I know many of you liberals will say you don’t believe the survey results because in your opinion you think Rasmussen is a Republican supporting organization and therefore can not be trusted. This is of course untrue. Rasmussen’s surveys have long been one of the most accurate of any polling company in the country. They didn’t get their accuracy by promoting one party over another.
If you want to validate this poll read 19.3 in Swampland “The AP Offers a Harsh Grade For Obama.”