Obama, Boehner Golf Game Joined By Joe Biden, John Kasich

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's planned golf outing June 18 with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner now has a complete foursome.

Vice President Joe Biden will join Obama for the round, while Republican Boehner will have Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, at his side.

With Democrats and Republicans at odds over debt and deficits, the White House and Boehner's office have faced questions over whether the players will have time for a discussion about the key issues.

But both sides say the golf outing is purely a social occasion, a good chance to get to know each other and reach across the partisan divide. Kasich, though, was chairman of the House Budget Committee during deficit negotiations with the Clinton White House.

The location for the event has not been disclosed as of yet, but it will not be at Washington's Congressional Country Club, where the world's top golfers will be competing in the U.S. Open that weekend.

It is unclear whether Obama and the others will be willing to disclose their scores. Obama has played dozens of times since he took power in early 2009 and typically keeps the news media far at bay when he plays.

Boehner, who may well be the best golfer of the group, tweeted out the news of Kasich's participation with the challenging hash tag: #nomulligans.

(Reporting by Steve Hollandl Editing by Jackie Frank)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[calloy]

08:30 PM on 06/13/2011

i wonder how many times bohner will cry before the 9th hole?

[johnny8612]

11:32 PM on 06/12/2011

Look at that pic of obama ,doesnt even know what he's doing,Notice .he's holding the golf club wrong even lol,Dopey guy

[calloy]

08:31 PM on 06/13/2011

he knows how to hold it left-handed, sparky.

[Jeller62]

07:45 PM on 06/14/2011

You dope! He's left handed!!!!

[johnny8612]

03:22 PM on 06/15/2011

ok I admit I was wrong bout this 1,The picture I saw was bigger and didnt show what part of the course he was as one dope replys to a bigger DOPE!!

[Bike Commuter]

11:14 PM on 06/12/2011

I don't begrudge any of them a game of golf. They are in positions where their job is their entire life. .......... Years after he was President, Eisenhower was speaking to a man who had just been nominated as Labor Secretary. Eisenhower had this advice for the man, "Young man, let me tell you something. You are going to work 14 hours a day, seven days a week for the government, and you are going to think you are doing your job. Here is what I want you to know. If that's what you do, there is no way you'll be able to do your job." .......... Eisenhower overdid the golf a bit, but he certainly had the right idea.

[katylied]

09:33 PM on 06/12/2011

"Fore!"*

*More years!*

*;)

[jsgaetano]

07:45 PM on 06/12/2011

Proving once again that Boehner puts golf on a far higher importance than America.

[johnny8612]

11:20 PM on 06/12/2011

OMG,Dont you know who the president is,about time for once in your life Im sure,suggest obama do something smart and act american.

[jsgaetano]

01:04 PM on 06/13/2011

The "I know you are but what am I" series of excuses always looks amazingly lame. You did not succeed in changing that.

[Oldstewbum]

06:43 PM on 06/12/2011

Great! Maybe they can get some homeless '99er's to shag balls for them.

[RobtBrock]

06:17 PM on 06/12/2011

Overheard: Boehner was willing to concede one of the holes, but not until Obama promised to cut 2 Trillion dollars of spending.

[globalguy]

04:46 PM on 06/12/2011

Maybe they will have a beer afterwards too OMG!

"All politics are local" and like business are built on interpersonal communication skills.

[Tulka2]

03:59 PM on 06/12/2011

If you want to talk about something important with your average male human, you must do something together.  It is impossible for a certain kind of man to change his mind in a conversation where people are looking at him.  My most important conversations with men have taken place in the car, while walking or while doing some kind of physical labor like farming or gardening where a man can talk and look at something else than the person they are talking to.   Fragile egos need buffering.

[1highstepper]

03:24 PM on 06/12/2011

Not many republicans complaining about president Obama playing golf with John Boehner.
Gee.

[regularguynyc]

03:45 PM on 06/12/2011

You clearly don't get it. Playing golf during the week with no objective but other than "getting away" especially during the current economic climate is irresponsible. Playing golf on a Saturday with the intention of coming to a reasonable compromise on an important budget agreement is what he should be doing. Only in the mind of a Leftist would these two situations described be considered equal....

[SparkyDash]

04:51 PM on 06/12/2011

That's pretty much a load...but nice try.

[Bike Commuter]

05:33 PM on 06/12/2011

Looks like you are just making it up as you go along. Almost all of President Obama's golf rounds have been played on the weekend. He has played about 70 times over the last two and a half years (not all full rounds by the way). .......... Did you ever stop to wonder why Boehner is a better golfer than the President Obama? It is because he has said he plays about 100 rounds a year. .......... All you are really doing is saying that you expect the President to never do anything that could remotely be considered a leisure activity. The thing is that if he stayed in the White House and bowled in the private bowling alley or watched movies in the private screening room you wouldn't know about it even though the result would be the same. The job is 24/7 and President Obama works as hard as anyone at it. The man is entitled to a few hours on the weekend.

[Tulka2]

03:54 PM on 06/12/2011

Yours is a life rich in imagination.

[NavyRetiredInTexas]

03:12 PM on 06/12/2011

One glaring omission from this article - it will be the TWELTH weekend in a row that the President has gone golfing. Is this the "laser focus on the economy" that he promised??

[Bike Commuter]

05:36 PM on 06/12/2011

Lets look at one of those weekends. 1) Visit Alabama storm areas 2) Visit NASA in prep for final shuttle launch, 3) White House correspondents dinner, 4) Get in 9 holes of golf, 5) Oversee miItary operation to get the most wanted man on earth. ........... Yeah, he's a sIacker

[NavyRetiredInTexas]

04:18 PM on 06/13/2011

You are correct - one major slacker when it comes to leading a nation. A workaholic when it comes to campaigning.

By the way, "overseeing" the operation to get Bin Laden consisted of sitting in the situation room. Once the authorization was given for the operation Obama's "oversight" was zilch!!

[MayaBeach]

02:14 PM on 06/12/2011

Looks like in the photo he needs a longer shaft & a little more knee flex. Hope he beats Boehner.

[heardingcats]

11:52 AM on 06/12/2011

I wonder who will concede the first putt?

[JDZSB]

11:50 AM on 06/12/2011

Getting together in a more informal environment can help breakdown barriers to teamwork and can create improved relationships, so, this golf game may help to some extent, it can't hurt (unless Boehner and Kasich embarrass the Pres and VP by beating tem too badly). The fundamental problem with our government at this time in our country is the huge difference between liberal and conservative goals for the country and a golf match is not going to do much to deal with these fundamental cultural differences. Obama is pushing socialism, higher taxes, more government borrowing and spending, more government regulation and oversight, etc. as compared to conservative Republicans who see a financial disaster on the horizon and are committed to doing something about it in an attempt to save this country and preserve
the traditional American way of life. These are conflicting visions and fundamental (socialism vs capitalism).

[Barbara DeZan]

01:39 PM on 06/12/2011

You can't really believe this has anything to do with golf,....not really now.

[sonoffestus]

01:40 PM on 06/12/2011

Please note..........Governments and debt grow when the conservatives are in power, just check the facts.

Obama "pushing socialism" , now that is way too funny. I did enjoy your post, a good chuckle is always appreciated in the morning.

[NavyRetiredInTexas]

03:14 PM on 06/12/2011

I guess the pesky "fact" that more government jobs have been created (that would be the government growing) during the last two years than at any other time.

[bearcaty]

03:50 PM on 06/12/2011

I totally agree with you...the GOP/Tea Community and their sympathizers distort the history and politics of this country to the level of disblieve. How often they twist truthful reality and lie is unimagineable. It seems they have the unusual forgetfulness that often clouds their minds and they spew nonsense on here for us to read. To them a GREEN STREET LIGHT is a RED STREET LIGHT and vice versa. Join me in wishing the OBAMA/BIDEN Ticket VICTORY IN 2012