Post by Hoosier Hillbilly on Oct 5, 2013 10:42:23 GMT -5
An excerpt:
Walsh
Several days before the federal government was partially closed, President Barack Obama announced he would not negotiate with Congress on the federal budget or the debt ceiling. When specifically asked if he shouldn't consider offering at least some compromise - given that the GOP was willing to compromise with him - Obama said, "I shouldn't have to offer anything." Since that time, he has consistently refused to negotiate in any way - even calling congressional leaders to the White House to tell them yet again that he will not compromise.
On the weekend before the shutdown, President Obama spent four hours on the golf course. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his colleagues in the Senate took the weekend completely off.
Obama's unwillingness to negotiate stands in stark contrast to the behavior of the Republicans in Congress. The GOP started off by passing a continuing resolution (CR) that stripped away the funding for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Obama and Reid said "no way", but offered no counterproposal. The GOP then compromised, offering a new CR that delayed the individual mandate for all Americans. The same way the Obama administration had delayed the implementation of other parts of the law for special interests like unions, and the president's allies in the business world. Obama and Reid again said "No" and again offered no counterproposal.
The GOP compromised again, asking that members of Congress and congressional staff be required to enroll in the Obamacare exchanges like most everyone else, instead of receiving a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy that would allow them to keep the already-generous coverage they currently have. Obama and Reid again said "No" and again made no counteroffer and refused to talk.
politix.topix.com/homepage/8302-the-shutdown-the-work-of-charlatans-clowns-and-despots
Even The Washington Post's Bob Woodward has expressed dismay at the president's refusal to engage in any serious discussions with the GOP. Woodward, who is an authority on the way Washington works, said that if Obama continues to refuse to negotiate, the blame will be on "his head... It's on the president's head. He's got to lead. He's got to talk. And the absence of discussion here, I think, is a baffling element."
Walsh
Several days before the federal government was partially closed, President Barack Obama announced he would not negotiate with Congress on the federal budget or the debt ceiling. When specifically asked if he shouldn't consider offering at least some compromise - given that the GOP was willing to compromise with him - Obama said, "I shouldn't have to offer anything." Since that time, he has consistently refused to negotiate in any way - even calling congressional leaders to the White House to tell them yet again that he will not compromise.
On the weekend before the shutdown, President Obama spent four hours on the golf course. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his colleagues in the Senate took the weekend completely off.
Obama's unwillingness to negotiate stands in stark contrast to the behavior of the Republicans in Congress. The GOP started off by passing a continuing resolution (CR) that stripped away the funding for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Obama and Reid said "no way", but offered no counterproposal. The GOP then compromised, offering a new CR that delayed the individual mandate for all Americans. The same way the Obama administration had delayed the implementation of other parts of the law for special interests like unions, and the president's allies in the business world. Obama and Reid again said "No" and again offered no counterproposal.
The GOP compromised again, asking that members of Congress and congressional staff be required to enroll in the Obamacare exchanges like most everyone else, instead of receiving a generous taxpayer-funded subsidy that would allow them to keep the already-generous coverage they currently have. Obama and Reid again said "No" and again made no counteroffer and refused to talk.
politix.topix.com/homepage/8302-the-shutdown-the-work-of-charlatans-clowns-and-despots
Even The Washington Post's Bob Woodward has expressed dismay at the president's refusal to engage in any serious discussions with the GOP. Woodward, who is an authority on the way Washington works, said that if Obama continues to refuse to negotiate, the blame will be on "his head... It's on the president's head. He's got to lead. He's got to talk. And the absence of discussion here, I think, is a baffling element."
