President Obama slams obstructionist Republicans

[Mr. Somalia]

 

Source:

 

 

WASHINGTON - President Obama dove headfirst into the belly of the GOP beast Friday - and left the not-so-loyal opposition bleeding on a Baltimore ballroom floor.

 

He skewered Republicans for obstructionist tactics, dubious facts and a lack of civility in opposing his domestic agenda, especially health care reform.

 

"If you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot," Obama told the GOP issues retreat after unveiling a proposal for $33 billion in small-business tax incentives.

 

House Republican leaders had tried to score political points by inviting Obama to their lair. Problem was, he showed up.

 

"You've given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you've been telling your constituents is, this guy is doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to destroy America," Obama said, his face appearing to tighten in anger.

 

An hour-long question-and-answer session after Obama's short speech provided plenty of dramatic, forced bipartisanship - and some of the most contentious public exchanges of his presidency.

 

"A lot of you have gone to appear at ribbon-cuttings for the same projects that you voted against," Obama needled, using last year's $787 billion stimulus package to land a stinging blow.

 

On the other side, Republicans countered by asking biting questions, sometimes in the form of long statements. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) drew blood and left Obama without a good explanation on a well-known health care topic.

 

"When you stood up before the American people multiple times and said you would broadcast the health care debates on C-SPAN, you didn't," Chaffetz said. "I think a lot of Americans were disappointed."

 

Asked if he'd back across-the-board tax cuts like President John F. Kennedy, Obama said he would study the budget-busting idea.

 

"I may not agree to a tax cut for Warren Buffett," he demurred. "You may be calling for an across-the-board tax cut for the banking industry right now. I may not agree to that."

 

Conservative Georgia Rep. Tom Price, head of the Republican Study Committee, gave Obama props for his political skill and for owning up to not negotiating all of health reform on C-SPAN, calling it his "only moment of humility."

 

"He knows his talking points, he didn't use a TelePrompTer and he refuses to answer the majority of the questions," Price complained.

 

kbazinet@nydailynews.com

[Mr. Somalia]

Did any of you guys watch today's question/answer secession between the President and the Republican caucus of the US Congress?

 

The Republicans sounded pretty petty. In my opinion, it seemed that they were just being obstructionists just for the heck of it. I guess in their dim minds they believe the can keep constantly being bellicose to Obama and the Democrat's legislative agenda and by so doing, they will gain support from the public and win seats in the coming mid elections. But they are very mistaken: The general public knows and understands that America inherited most of its fiscal problems from the previous Republican administration-- which enjoyed the full support of a Republican majority in Congress. And Over-all, this was an excellent way to show the public that the Republicans are making it impossible for Obama to govern well; and this will ensure him and the Dems gain more support... the recent election results in Massachusetts will quickly become a one-hit-wonder for the Republicans.

[Cyber_Nomad]

The republicans do have a point about the health care reform, and that is economic burden on the government budget thats already 1 trillion dollar deep in deficit

[Mr. Somalia]

^^

 

Nonsense. The deficit problem was created by Bush and his cohorts in Congress. Fixing the health care system in this country seems such a daunting and expensive proposition precisely because the Republicans haven't paid one penny towards paying down the deficit-- which they created-- for the last 8 Bush years.

 

President Bush gave two tax cuts to the people without finding a way to pay for them. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars also were waged without allocating/pinpointing where the resources where gonna come from and still aren't. So this 1 trillion dollar deficit you speak of, is a Republican baby. Yet their blatant audaciousness leads them to use this same very deficit as argument against funding any of Obama's legislative spending requests, be it health care reform; alternative sources of energy; cap and trade; social security; the 2 wars; stimulating the economy and so on and so forth; and this, in my opinion, is very ridiculous and shortsighted.

 

Especially in the case of Health care reform... this has been a serious problem facing the average American and government for many years now. Nearly 30 million people go without any form of health insurance whatsoever. For those that do have it: most insurance companies charge them an-arm-and-a-leg whenever they must use it for treatment. In fact, paying for health care costs these days remains one of the biggest reasons why people become bankrupt in the US.

 

Prescription drugs are three times as expensive for the average American compared to any of the citizens of the developed world. Why is this so, when some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world happen to be American Corporations?

 

Health care insurance premiums for the average American and small businesses are way always way too expensive. This is also the same reason why Medicare for seniors is projected to go bankrupt in the not-too-distant future.

 

This whole thing is a mess, and this demands that everyone puts aside the partisan leanings to work for the greater good of the people. Therefore, I believe the Republicans ought to get off their selfish high-horses and work with this President to fix some of these problems, instead of playing the partisanship card every single solitary moment a piece of legislation supported by the white house is brought before them.