President Obama's Congressional Republican Townhall Meeting

[RobDownSouth]

President Obama met with Congressional Republicans today and had a frank question-and-answer period with them for over an hour. It was a good give and take, rarely seen in American politics.

Here is a link to the transcript and video

I am of the opinion that President Obama did very well defending his policies and agenda. I particularly enjoyed watching him spar with Rep Tom Price on health care and Rep Jeb Hensarling on the deficit (I got the impression that Hensarling was auditioning for a Bill O'Reilly substitute host position).

Did any of our usual political suspects, particularly those whose enjoy talking about 'transparency', happen to watch this today?

 

[BigGator5]

Talk is cheap. I want to see HIM deliver. I will also hold him personally responsible for the actions of Democrats in congress.

 

[tinylittlegnat]

First I heard of it. Damn liberal media.

 

[tinylittlegnat]

Talk is cheap. I want to see HIM deliver. I will also hold him personally responsible for the actions of Democrats in congress.

Why? Is he their mother? Do they not have free will?

 

[BigGator5]

Why? Is he their mother? Do they not have free will?

Just as Bush was responsible for the Republican controlled congress, so is Obama responsible for the Democratic controlled congress. There is no reason why he can't steer Pelosi and Reid into working with Republicans. If not, then we'll know that Obama doesn't run the country.

 

[Colonel Hogan]

President Obama met with Congressional Republicans today and had a frank question-and-answer period with them for over an hour. It was a good give and take, rarely seen in American politics.

Here is a link to the transcript and video

I am of the opinion that President Obama did very well defending his policies and agenda. I particularly enjoyed watching him spar with Rep Tom Price on health care and Rep Jeb Hensarling on the deficit (I got the impression that Hensarling was auditioning for a Bill O'Reilly substitute host position).

Did any of our usual political suspects, particularly those whose enjoy talking about 'transparency', happen to watch this today?

I did not (I am ashamed to say), but I give him props for making the appearance in the lion's den and I thank you for providing the link so that I may rectify my negligence.

 

[tinylittlegnat]

Just as Bush was responsible for the Republican controlled congress, so is Obama responsible for the Democratic controlled congress. There is no reason why he can't steer Pelosi and Reid into working with Republicans. If not, then we'll know that Obama doesn't run the country.

So because republicans were weak minded and did as their master told them democrats should too? Do you even realize how weak your argument is? Bush had bipartisan support Obama doesnt. Senators and congressman are elected to represent the will of the people of their state not to do as the president says.

 

[Ham Murabi]

I was taken aback when Obama told the Republicans he wanted to "end welfare as we know it."

 

[RobDownSouth]

Talk is cheap. I want to see HIM deliver. I will also hold him personally responsible for the actions of Democrats in congress.

Did you watch the video or read the transcript? Hmmm?

 

[Drixxx]

Hey! Where's all the right wing circle jerkers who said he could only work with a teleprompter? Sure he could deliver a good speech but he was just an empty suit? Even if you hate his politics there is no denying his is extremely smart and extremely smooth.

For over an hour he took on one after another and gave as good as he got when he didn't just outright hand them their ass back. It was like watching a kung fu movie where the bad guys line up to get their asses kicked by the hero. It was awesome.

 

[Spider Rand]

It's interesting he didn't have this attitude before the election in Mass. It's the Clinton move to the middle in '94. A lot of the partisan rancor he attributed mostly to the Republicans and only somewhat to the congressional Democrats was coming right from his own White House, maybe not that much from himself personally, but a wise general always leads from the back.

He let the Congressional Dems set the jam-it-down-your-throat tone and stood back and watched it happen, had his own spokespeople from the White House out decrying the Republicans as obstructionists on ANYTHING to do with health-care reform, and totally devoid of ideas. Here, he lists more contributions than I can name.

You can't keep taking ideas from someone while saying at every opportunity they are contributing nothing and blocking every good thing you try to do, not and expect to continue to receive any cooperation.

If he is willing to work with Republicans in a more truly bi-partisan fashion, willing to back off some of his more extreme notions, and willing to stand-up to the Congressional Democratic leadership when they are foaming at the mouth and chewing on the furniture, it will be good for the country.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so if he does any of that it will be a welcome surprise.

 

[RobDownSouth]

It's interesting he didn't have this attitude before the election in Mass. It's the Clinton move to the middle in '94. A lot of the partisan rancor he attributed mostly to the Republicans and only somewhat to the congressional Democrats was coming right from his own White House, maybe not that much from himself personally, but a wise general always leads from the back.

He let the Congressional Dems set the jam-it-down-your-throat tone and stood back and watched it happen, had his own spokespeople from the White House out decrying the Republicans as obstructionists on ANYTHING to do with health-care reform, and totally devoid of ideas. Here, he lists more contributions than I can name.

You can't keep taking ideas from someone while saying at every opportunity they are contributing nothing and blocking every good thing you try to do, not and expect to continue to receive any cooperation.

If he is willing to work with Republicans in a more truly bi-partisan fashion, willing to back off some of his more extreme notions, and willing to stand-up to the Congressional Democratic leadership when they are foaming at the mouth and chewing on the furniture, it will be good for the country.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so if he does any of that it will be a welcome surprise.

Your analysis doesn't stand up to any serious scrutiny.

If you look back at how much time the Democrats wasted in a futile attempt at bipartisanship (bending over backwards to get Republican senator Snowe to vote for the health care reform bill for example), you can see that the Republicans are not interested (and never were interested) in seeking any sort of compromise...it's either their bill or nothing. The Republicans adopted a scorched Earth approach to governance, something that the Obama administration has now realized. The Obama administration is now showing America just how intransigent and intractable the Republicans actually are.

 

[Byron In Exile]

Did any of our usual political suspects, particularly those whose enjoy talking about 'transparency', happen to watch this today?

I don't know about them, but I find Obama to be totally transparent.

 

[Spider Rand]

Your analysis doesn't stand up to any serious scrutiny.

If you look back at how much time the Democrats wasted in a futile attempt at bipartisanship (bending over backwards to get Republican senator Snowe to vote for the health care reform bill for example), you can see that the Republicans are not interested (and never were interested) in seeking any sort of compromise...it's either their bill or nothing. The Republicans adopted a scorched Earth approach to governance, something that the Obama administration has now realized. The Obama administration is now showing America just how intransigent and intractable the Republicans actually are.

Haha! Damn, do you actually believe that?

That wasn't any sort of bipartisanship, it was a pandering move to try and get a lone token Republican vote for their healthcare nightmare legislation, so they could label it bipartisan.

 

[BigGator5]

Bush had bipartisan support Obama doesnt.

I would like to point out that Obama came into office with a 65% approval rating, but now (as I write this) has a 47% approval. Obama also had bipartisan support, until Independents and Republicans found out Obama isn't a leader. I know I am sounding harsh, but it's the truth.

Even when Bush lost control of both the House and Senate, Democrats where still unable to force Bush out of Iraq. That my friend, is called leadership.

Senators and congressman are elected to represent the will of the people of their state not to do as the president says.

So the will of the people says that Democrats should completely ignore Republicans and fuck over the Commander-in-Chief's agenda?

 

[RobDownSouth]

Byron? BigGator5? Did you guys actually watch the video or read the transcript? Do you have any comments specific to what was said or are you content to sit back and lob your usual generic "I hates Obama" rhetoric?

 

[RobDownSouth]

Hey! Where's all the right wing circle jerkers who said he could only work with a teleprompter? Sure he could deliver a good speech but he was just an empty suit? Even if you hate his politics there is no denying his is extremely smart and extremely smooth.

For over an hour he took on one after another and gave as good as he got when he didn't just outright hand them their ass back. It was like watching a kung fu movie where the bad guys line up to get their asses kicked by the hero. It was awesome.

There's a good commentary HERE suggesting that Republicans have been using the "Obama NEEDS a teleprompter" talking point for so long that they actually began to believe their own propaganda.

 

[Byron In Exile]

Byron? BigGator5? Did you guys actually watch the video or read the transcript? Do you have any comments specific to what was said or are you content to sit back and lob your usual generic "I hates Obama" rhetoric?

I certainly didn't.

Therefore, I have no comments specific to what was said, but on the other hand, I don't hate the President now, just as I didn't hate the President ten years ago, nor during any of the intervening time.

A tool is a tool, then as now.

I'm not a Democrat and I'm not a Republican.

Maybe someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

 

[BigGator5]

Byron? BigGator5? Did you guys actually watch the video or read the transcript? Do you have any comments specific to what was said or are you content to sit back and lob your usual generic "I hates Obama" rhetoric?

I did. But like I said, talk is cheap. I await a time when Obama becomes a man of action instead of just a talking head.

 

[rosco rathbone]

I didn't have an substantial takeaway from that. The philosophical differences between the parties are so absolute at this point that it's just apples vs oranges. To really get into their differences they'd have had to get into all kinds of abstract shit like Keynes vs Friedman, for instance when Obama talks about "finding credible economists who agree with your plan".

The main impression I got is that Obama is really confident, quick on his feet, and the GOP has a tendency (not limited to that party of course) to get high on their own supply.

 

[RightField]

I saw it. President Obama, in one of the many disingenious segments, tried to say that the large round of layoffs that took place in November, December, January and February were not his fault, that they were Bush's fault or the fault of "the failed policies of the previous 8 years." He took great lengths to describe it in detail quoting the number of people layed off in each month and then adding, surely that couldn't have been the result of my policies after each statement noting that his policies didn't implement until much later. It sounded like he was reading a fairy tale to the caucus, with the flourishes you'd expect him to say and use if he was talking to 5 year olds.

If you ask me, it was another squirrely performance where he was saying "things are bad, but its not my fault they're getting worse" (blame someone else, anyone else).

That's where he'd be wrong.

He's heavily discounting the power of the bully pulpit and underestimating the need for people to take actions upon their estimation of future trends, particularly as they related to projected revenue, expenses and business trends.

First, the practices that led to the bubble were democrat dreams of everyone being able to afford a house and driving policy so that loans were made to people who couldn't afford them (does that sound like a Republican platform position...really)...leading to a bubble in construction as demand grew and then the inevitable burst.

Second, his anti-business leanings were self-evident throughout the campaign throughout the previous year as he advocated for higher taxes on business and small business owners to solve health care and every other perceived ill of society preventing the advent of liberal nirvana (where unions and trial lawyers reign supreme). However, I distinctly remember where I work we layed off 5,000 people almost immediately after Obama's election (November) because we looked forward and decided that Obama's anti-business policies would lead to lower sales and revenue and therefore we had to trim expenses to adjust to the much lower anticipated sales over the coming year.

Wishful thinking on his part and a rather ballsy attempt to blame someone else for his problems. Rather sneaky if you ask me because he really knows the truth and is trying to deceive what he believes is a gulllible and stupid public. However, we're smarter than he gives us credit for.

 

[Liar]

Saw some random clips of it just now. Good stuff.

It's hard to throw bumper stickers at a guy when he is in the room and can tear them apart. Those who did got humiliated quickly, and those who had specific, legitimate questions and concerns did get serious answers. Not the "you're right I'm wrong" answers they were looknig for, but specific answers non e the less. Some cheap politicking occured from both the speaker podium and the room, but that's just to be expected.

Kind of like Question Time in the UK. They should make a regular thing out of it. A weekly televised hour.

Oh, and they should totally do the cheering and booing that the Brits do. It's awesome.

 

[Beco]

Maybe someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one.

imagine....

 

[Karen Kraft]

Just as Bush was responsible for the Republican controlled congress, so is Obama responsible for the Democratic controlled congress. There is no reason why he can't steer Pelosi and Reid into working with Republicans. If not, then we'll know that Obama doesn't run the country.

They won't.

Their view is very simple: Democrats won control of both houses of Congress so

That's kind of hard to work with.

Plus, that's the attitude that makes Reid and many other realize they are serving out their lame duck term in office.

 

[Ulaven_Demorte]

Saw some random clips of it just now. Good stuff.

It's hard to throw bumper stickers at a guy when he is in the room and can tear them apart. Those who did got humiliated quickly, and those who had specific, legitimate questions and concerns did get serious answers. Not the "you're right I'm wrong" answers they were looknig for, but specific answers non e the less. Some cheap politicking occured from both the speaker podium and the room, but that's just to be expected.

Kind of like Question Time in the UK. They should make a regular thing out of it. A weekly televised hour.

Oh, and they should totally do the cheering and booing that the Brits do. It's awesome.

I saw bits and pieces while at work last night. I've yet to watch it in it's entirety. I may have to go hunt it down now.

I'm not surprised that the "right" is panning the President's performance (What? no teleprompter?!) and discounting every reasoned response given by the man. The bits I have seen so far were the President shooting down one bumper sticker GOP slogan after another.

I did find it curious that FauxNews cut away 20 minutes before the meeting ended to start it's critique.. Very telling that.