Speaking to Republican members of the House of Representatives at the GOP House Issues Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, yesterday, President Barack Obama demonstrated that he’s not afraid to engage Republicans in a dialog, and when necessary push back against their talking points:
Before President Obama started speaking to the House Republican conference’s retreat in Baltimore Friday, the GOP presented him with a little book, one that wrapped up all of the policy ideas they’ve had since he took office that have languished. It had a catchy title: “Better Solutions.” The pamphlet may not be an ideal blueprint for governing — it only takes 30 pages to wrap up everything from economic stimulus to national security to financial reform — but, as it turned out, it did make for a pretty good prop.
Which Obama demonstrated about an hour into what was easily the most entertaining program C-SPAN (or any cable news network, really) has aired in a long time. “You say, for example, that we’ve offered a health care plan, and I look up — this is just [in] the book that you’ve just provided me, ‘Summary of GOP Health Care Reform Bill,'” Obama said, casually flipping through the book as Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., stood by. Price had demanded the president tell Republicans how they should answer constituents who don’t like the way the White House says the GOP hasn’t offered any ideas. So Obama played it deadpan. ‘”The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing America’s number one priority for health reform.’ I mean, that’s an idea that we all embrace. But specifically it’s got to work.”
Here’s some video of the President’s appearance:
President Obama deserves credit not just for taking on 140 House Republicans on their own turf, but for standing up and pushing back against those Republicans who challenged his policy decisions during the first year of his presidency.
I can’t get the video to play. 🙁
Weird….it works fine for me.
I tried again and it was working fine for me…but holy cow it’s 80+ minutes long. I don’t have a long enough attention span to watch it… 🙂
One word can be used to describe what the president did yesterday:
Leadership.
Agreed. It took chutzpah for President Obama to go straight into the proverbial lion’s den and take questions from House Republicans.
Yes, but was it wise? I am not so sure. I sure would like to see a copy of that book though. Might be something to chew on.
Three words: Dog and Pony.
We’ll see if he takes the Ragin’ Cajun’s Clintonesque advice and “pivots”, or if this was just a phony effort like the meeting last year with Will, Barone, Krauthammer, Kudlow, et. al. to put in a campaign stump speech.
BTW: I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but why was Hillary missing from the SOTU? Some petulant mission couldn’t be nearly as important as her politically-troubled bosses’ constitutionally required speech is it now?
Another four words, for the hell of it: 2010 Iowa State Fair
By law, isn’t at least one member of the cabinet required to miss the SOTU address in case of a mass disaster?
Id’s right; one member of the Cabinet is required to miss the SOTU in order to preserve the chain of succession in case of a mass disaster.
That’s correct. However, Obama selected HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan as the security holdout. Legally, the holdout must remain in the US. Hillary, obviously, was not. IMHO, short of World War III breaking out, it seems a bit suspicious that one of the highest profile Cabinet members holds out of the SOTU for some meeting in London. Now, Obama claims to have instructed her to attend the meeting, but this is CYA. Normally, I wouldn’t think anything of it if it were any other of Obama’s cabinet members. But she is a Clinton; therefore, look for ulterior motive. She MAY be trying to distance herself.
SoS Clinton wasn’t at just “some meeting;” she was in London representing the U.S. along with over 60 other nations to discuss reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. Seems to me to be kind of an important meeting, given our increased military presence in that nation.
Sounds important, but don’t shoot the messenger. I’m more curious as to why you aren’t at all suspect. The Sec. Of State can travel on just about any schedule they desire. Why pick the SOTU? This wasn’t WWIII breaking out, so this couldn’t wait? Obama, and by extension, his Cabinet dithered on Afghanistan forever, but now there’s urgency in one of the most important nights in her bosses’ career? Like I said, if this is anybody else I think nothing of it. But it’s Hillary Clinton. Barry put her there to keep her on a short leash. Maybe not short enough.
Do I understand you to mean that because Obama picked this date for SOTU that Hillary should have told all the other nations to delay the meeting and wait for her?
Hillary is turning out to be the finest Sec’y of State in decades. Even the Republican leadership in Congress agrees that she is top notch.
(Keep her on a leash? Pshaw. As if anyone could…)
I take it back IF she was over there discussing how to handle Iran. This is a powderkeg that Obama is gonna have to deal with soon, and if this is what she was actually doing, much praise. I could see missing the SOTU for this and only this.