Advisers: Obama To Step Up Pressure On Republicans

United Press International:

U.S. President Barack Obama plans to travel and campaign more to pressure Republicans in Congress rather than trying to win their loyalty, sources say.

Read the whole story: United Press International

Comments

[SouthPrairie]

08:07 PM on 02/15/2009

Isn't it interesting to have a president that understands that he is a representitive of the American people. That really throws the GOP off their game. They can't seem to get the fact that American tax PAYERS would appreciate a bit of their hard earned tax dollars to benefit THEM. The corporate representative just don't have a clue anymore.

[catbite]

04:14 PM on 02/15/2009

I have never seen so many middle-aged, white, men whine so much at one time. It pushed all my buttons. I hope they all get voted out of office and fade away.

[lifeinfullcolor]

02:24 PM on 02/15/2009

If more people read, The Shock Doctrine, saw what happened to the countries that used Morton Friedman's economics, they'd be scared when the republicans came up with suggestions after they've practically bankrupt the entire nation. I'm not sure why we, who are educated en masse, are always so sure our government is looking out for our best interests. We forget why have laws about polluting, unions that fight and fought for better working conditions, the list goes on and on. I think that the republicans by not reaching out, by not making an effort to be a part of the solution, are making a big mistake. They are showing the American public why we need to put one party in power, give them enough leverage to enact their laws, because otherwise nothing gets accomplished. I'm just hoping that Obama is passing a bill that will turn the tide before the mid term, before the Republicans get another shot at destroying this democracy.

[springsm]

06:13 PM on 02/15/2009

You are surely right here...that was one scary book that Naomi Klein wrote. We should all pay attention.

[Agentprovokatur]

01:55 PM on 02/15/2009

Time to start exercising a little "Executive Discretion" in how (and in what districts) Congressional funding is spent.

After a time of learning that one Congressperson's necessities are another's pork maybe the Republicans will learn to play nice.

If not, they may find their constituents not playing so nice at the ballot box.

And, yes I DO mean hitting a few of those Red State Net Federal Fund Importers who decry "socialism" with a little "Fiscal Discipline" until they start yelping "Thank you Sir, may I have another!"

[serindipity803]

12:06 PM on 02/15/2009

In order for Obama to gain Republican votes, he has to go to that group - who are having a horrible time right now and let the world SEE -- WHO is letting them down. He is helping them, and their elected GOP are playing them as pawns - and even the weakest of them is seeing it as they lose their jobs, food stamps, unemployment -- l-o-n-g- list!

Other than corporate and wall street corruption I am not sure who the GOP is supporting, it sure isn't the people who voted for them. It is the lobbyist who paid them in the back room!!

[motu]

11:43 AM on 02/15/2009

Yup... one can only hope he's been planning this all along.

[gbht12]

11:40 AM on 02/15/2009

Obama did what we expected he would do. He asked for the support from the GOP. They want to play hard ball and make Obama look bad. The only thing the republicans accomplished was they all look like a bunch of losers.

Now take the gloves off and realize that republicans are not going to play nice in the sand box. We don't need them anyways. The olive branch was given and they pushed it away. Great job to unite the country Pub's. We always knew it was completely all about YOU.

[mmgbizgirl]

11:36 AM on 02/15/2009

Let's play ball. The American People have your back!!!

[roshni]

01:00 PM on 02/15/2009

That's what I'm saying. We the people who elected you are behind you 100%. Let the rethugs looks like petulant kids. Just take your message to the people.

[Okieborn]

11:05 AM on 02/15/2009

I am a Proud Baby Boomer Who Worked Hard For President Obamas Election as Millions did !!
I want to see More "BACKBONE" from our President !!!
Mr. President take off the kid gloves and get tough , the Repubs. certainly do not want you to succeed !!!!!!

[marijam]

10:48 AM on 02/15/2009

He should absolutely go into the states of the Republican senators who voted against this and ask the people there if they want the federal funds or not. If they say not, that they can do it themselves, then don't give those states any money.

[Okieborn]

11:07 AM on 02/15/2009

Let's Hear A Big (Amen) To This Comment !!!!

[blues101]

09:55 PM on 02/15/2009

Amen! And a disclaimer.......I "live" in two states - Pennsylvania and South Carolina - makes yer head spin. Many in the Charleston area and island communitis are progressive/liberal/independent/democrat, what-have-you, and voted for President Obama. Most of South Carolina did not. Let's try to win the red states over -but let's not bend over backward to do it. It's always the little people and the folks in rural areas who get trampled by the rich maroons who pretend to represent them but who know nothing about them. Nor do they care to.

[Interested Party]

01:23 PM on 02/15/2009

Experiment - Arizona, South Carolina for example, any state senator who voted against the Stimulus gets NO funds from stimulus and can cut their state taxes as much as they want. States where at least ONE Senator voted for Stimulus gets those funds. THEN their own consituents can see the results of what their Senators actually voted for.

Time they got to feel the result of the votes of whom they elected. No more standing up and criticizing like McCain and Graham then taking the money to help the folks back home. AND think of the money it would save.

[Mag44]

05:14 PM on 02/15/2009

I agree w/marijan, he should ask the people of those red states. President Obama said he is everyones president regardless if they voted for him. It's not fair to blame the individual states because not everyone in those states voted McCain. This president is working for us and listening to us. So the more red states he involves the better.

[sonomarc]

10:32 AM on 02/15/2009

Frank Rich in today's nyt:

A useful template for the current political dynamic can be found in one of the McCain campaign’s more memorable pratfalls. Last fall, it was the Beltway mantra that Obama was doomed with all those working-class Rust Belt Democrats who’d flocked to Hillary in the primaries. The beefy, beer-drinking, deer-hunting white guys — incessantly interviewed in bars and diners — would never buy the skinny black intellectual. Nor would the “dead-ender” Hillary women. The McCain camp not only bought into this received wisdom, but bet the bank on it, pouring resources into states like Michigan and Wisconsin before abandoning them and doubling down on Pennsylvania in the stretch. The sucker-punched McCain lost all three states by percentages in the double digits.

looks like Obama will be taking out a few more puggers with his sucker punches. Nothing like watching a smart politician play the game better than any opponent.

[ILibertine]

10:59 AM on 02/15/2009

Yes. Obama will appeal to the survival instincts of Republicans who begin to fathom the populist tsunami underway. Enlist all of the support possible to move legislation fast, then move in for the G.O.P. kill. The Republicans are reverse-engineering in an upcoming overwhelming defeat.

[DoomtoNeoCons]

11:32 AM on 02/15/2009

He ll, he's already got all the Republican Governors on his side!

[PlaceboStudman]

10:31 AM on 02/15/2009

Oh, for crying out loud, Mr President! I love ya, but come on. If you're as smart as everyone says you are, then you know that giving into the Republican temper tantrums will only encourage them. If you were really a true leader, the "father of our country" so to speak, as you are supposed to be, then you will realize that the best way to handle the republican temper tantrum is to ignore it and go about the business of leading this country.

People have always talked about your ability to multi-task and do many thgings at once. Let's see some evidence of that, and let's put some action into something that affects the country beyond this economy and trying to erase Bush from the annals of history, which is all that anyone seems to want from you

[nellie]

10:39 AM on 02/15/2009

Better to go straight to the voters like he did during the campaign. He's thinking ahead to 2010. Gotta play chess when dealing w O.

[gobarackgo]

10:30 AM on 02/15/2009

I guess I'm one of the few who feel Prez O played his cards just about right. He reached out to the opposition to try and work together -- which plays well with general electorate. The Rushpublicans, in their infinite wisdom, flipped him the bird. Now the President is free to take a much harder line and still keep the majority of voters on his side. Scorecard so far: Obama 1, Republicans 0.

[nellie]

10:39 AM on 02/15/2009

Agree 100%.

[ladyv]

10:59 AM on 02/15/2009

When you've got little old ladies in the Deep South ranting at their tvs telling Obama to quit messing with the Republicans because there's nothing to be done with them, you know the Republicans have lost the message war. =)

[MargaretO]

10:22 AM on 02/15/2009

Yes! Barack, you tried, the R's failed. You are definitely on the right track. The people wanted you, they loved how you related to them and they detested the Washington par for the course Congress. The R's in Congress have learned nothing.

Stay with the people, Barack. They want you to represent them.

[eesmm]

10:20 AM on 02/15/2009

It really should have been obvious that the creation of a bipartisan environment in Washington cannot be accomplished with the existing players. This is what we have learned from the stimulus.

I believe it is within the Democratic mindset to embrace bipartisanship (see the repeated capitulations of the last two years). On the whole, the Dems are not the problem.

The remaining Republicans in Congress represent the literally die-hard states and congressional districts who were able to ignore the results of the Bush presidency, so getting these, of all players, to appreciate how lucky they actually are (were?) to have such a gracious chief executive was bound to be an impossible task. Obama was very lucky to get those three votes, and keep them, through the bill's revisions.

I think that the bipartisan atmosphere will only truly surface after the 2010 elections, when a few more seats go Democrat, and the remaining Republicans are progressive enough to play ball for the good of the country.