A story from March 8, 2013 Obama and the GOP

[GMDino]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-steps-up-outreach-to-republicans-but-hurdles-remain/

Quote:Obama Steps Up Outreach to Republicans, But Hurdles Remain



Sen. John McCain flashes the thumb-up following a dinner with President Obama and a group of fellow Republican senators on Wednesday in Washington. Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

The cherry blossoms are still a few weeks away from peak bloom, but olive branches are sprouting up all over Washington this week.

One week after politicians in this town abandoned any hopes of a deal to avert $85 billion in budget cuts, the mood seems to have shifted toward possible compromise.

The White House wants everyone to know that President Barack Obama is on a “charm offensive,” a term that dozens of reporters used in stories describing the president’s activities over the last few days. (We fess up — we did too.)

The House and Senate won’t attempt to reconcile dueling spending blueprints until later this month, and then there are the upcoming battles over the 2014 fiscal budget and raising the country’s borrowing limit.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Budget ranking member Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., enjoyed lentil soup, broiled sea bass and roasted vegetables at a private lunch with the president that drew Ryan’s praise. They had a “frank discussion about Washington’s budget challenges,” the 2012 vice presidential nominee said in a statement.

Ryan is expected to unveil his budget blueprint next week. The release of the president’s plan is still unclear, but could come as late as April 8.

Still, the words “grand bargain” are starting to surface again and lawmakers are suggesting they feel more optimistic the White House is listening.

The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker and Rosalind Helderman report the president treated Senate Republicans to “a dinner of hamachi tartare, lamb and lobster” on Wednesday night, as well as to the details of his plan for deficit reduction:

Quote:At Wednesday’s dinner, attendees said, Obama was specific about his ideas. He laid the same framework of spending cuts that he offered to Boehner in December in their negotiations to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff.” Obama’s offer included more than $500 billion in cuts to health programs in addition to the new revenue from capping tax deductions and eliminating loopholes.

Attendees said the president also endorsed a new way to calculating inflation that would result in reducing Social Security benefits over time — something many Democratic lawmakers strongly oppose.

In a piece questioning whether a meal can really win over a politico foe, the New York Times’ Jeremy Peters writes that the president did more listening than talking. One senator estimated he spoke just 10 percent of the meal.

And The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reported that Mr. Obama set a deadline of four to five months for coming to an agreement during the dinner.

From Bolton’s story:

Quote:A GOP lawmaker who met with Obama said the accelerated timeline has two advantages. Reaching a broad deficit deal by August would allow the president to avoid another messy standoff over raising the debt limit. The president, who has said he will not negotiate on the debt limit, believes it will be harder to forge a major deal in September and beyond, as both parties begin to position themselves for the 2014 mid-term election.

Next Wednesday, the president will do something he hasn’t done since January 2009 — meet with House Republicans on their turf in the basement of the Capitol. He is expected to huddle with Senate Republicans and members of his own party as well.

Still, this is Washington. So don’t hold your breath for a great compromise just yet.

It's just a shame he never reached across the aisle....

[*PhilHos*]

(03-08-2017, 01:18 PM)GMDino Wrote: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-steps-up-outreach-to-republicans-but-hurdles-remain/




It's just a shame he never reached across the aisle....

Yeah, and maybe if he didn't wait 5 years to do so, he might have been even more effective at it.

[Belsnickel]

(03-08-2017, 01:51 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Yeah, and maybe if he didn't wait 5 years to do so, he might have been even more effective at it.

Four years. And not to endorse the behavior, but he didn't need to the first two. Much like the situation now, he had majorities in both chambers and the minority was being petulant. He could ram legislation down their throat and there wasn't much that could be done to stop it. That's the name of the game right now with one difference: Trump isn't a conservative, or even a real Republican, and so to get his side on board takes a bit more work.

No one cares about the minority party when they have a unified government. Is that right? Should that be the way it is? No, definitely not. But as the polarization of our federal government continues we will continue to see it.

[*michaelsean*]

"They can ride with us if they want, but they got to get in the back seat. "

[JustWinBaby]

Is inviting someone to dinner just to tell them "elections have consequences" really reaching across the aisle?

[GMDino]

(03-08-2017, 02:49 PM)michaelsean Wrote: "They can ride with us if they want, but they got to get in the back seat. "

(03-08-2017, 08:07 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Is inviting someone to dinner just to tell them "elections have consequences" really reaching across the aisle?

Quote:

In a piece questioning whether a meal can really win over a politico foe, the New York Times’ Jeremy Peters writes that the president did more listening than talking. One senator estimated he spoke just 10 percent of the meal.