Obama Repeatedly Reminds House GOP Of Their Zero Stimulus Votes (GREAT)

[BigBearJohn]

In a meeting with House Republicans at the White House Thursday, President Obama reminded the minority that the last time he reached out to them, they reacted with zero votes -- twice -- for his stimulus package. And then he reminded them again. And again. And again.

A GOP source familiar with the meeting said that the president was extremely sensitive -- even "thin-skinned" -- to the fact that the stimulus bill received no GOP votes in the House. He continually brought it up throughout the meeting.

Obama also offered payback for that goose egg. A major overhaul of the health care system, he told the Republican leadership, would be done using a legislative process known as reconciliation, meaning that the GOP won't be able to filibuster it.

Congress has until October 15 to pass health care or student lending reform under the normal process. If it doesn't, reconciliation can be used to eliminate the 60-vote requirement.

Democratic aides said that Obama made clear to the GOP leadership that he would continue to work in a bipartisan way, but that they didn't have veto power over health care policy. GOP aides, however, said that Obama was pretty clear that reconciliation would be used. "From what was told me, it sounded more like he would almost definitely use reconciliation for healthcare. I don't think he hedged much," said one.

WORTH READING: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/24/obama-repeatedly-reminded_n_191207.html

[Lasher]

1. Good on Obama.

That needs to come up repeatedly in public discourse.

[Habibi]

2. "Thin-skinned"?

Probably not. Just making sure they understand that actions have consequences. Republicans seem to need a lot of reminding about that.

[tanyev]

12. He seems to have repeated it just enough times that the GOP source

actually got the message. If they are going to insist on acting like 5 year olds, then they need to be treated like 5 year olds. That doesn't mean Obama is thin-skinned.

[Schema Thing]

14. "acting" thin skinned. sometimes you have to dramatize

for unrepentant drama queens

[Why Syzygy]

3. That is RICH.

The best thing they did for us was vote "No". Dumb asses.

[MajorChode]

19. History repeats itself

Not one single Republican voted for Clinton's deficit reduction act of 1993. Not one. The result was the largest economic expansion in the history of the US and record budget surpluses.

[Political Heretic]

4. Now that's something I can fully get behind.

[VeraAgnes]

5. This point is an excellent tool for Democrats

to use when running for Office against an incumbent republican. We need to keep a folder.

[leftofcool]

6. Every time President Obama gets the GOP all shit fired up

his percentage rate goes up in our house. Problem is, he is already topping 150% and I don't think he can go much higher

[madokie]

7. Hell he's hitting around 300 percent here in this household

so it can go up. :-) just say'n

[leftofcool]

8. Okay but I gotta stop this at 500%, otherwise he becomes God

[madokie]

9. He isn't???

Well, that just blows me away. :rofl:
In our circle of friends we have a couple pubbie couples and they've all been falling all over themselves with praise for our present President and how he seems to be in touch with us the average joes and janes. As its going now I can say with some certainty that President Obama will get four more votes than he received this last election. an that is good

[BlancheSplanchnik]

15. do me a favor...

and have them drop a note to my hun, a Vietnam Marine, ....

He is more of the "I hate both parties", but some of the conjobservative memes really appeal to him. ( :puke: )

we avoid political talk, but on occasion, especially after he's been out of town at his rw fundy brother's, he comes back full of the nastiest, factually vacant ugliness....

sigh..
He's not interested, it seems, in looking up facts...I think he'll only hear it from a pubbie


ehhh.... I'm just struggling this morning with my frustration over this.

x( :-(

[SpiralHawk]

10. MESSAGE to Republicon Homelanders: You are LOSERS and FAIL Freaks

and Everyone Knows It.

You screwed up America for 8 agonizing years with your lies, corruption, and incompetence.

Everyone Knows It.

You -- and your culture of corruption, perversion, and imcompetence -- are totally OVER.

Deal with it, and stop Whining.

[Beetwasher]

11. HaHa! Repub Temper Tantrums To Ensue Immediately!

Waaaaaaah!

[usregimechange]

13. Damn right! If you don't play fair, you get shut out!

[mdmc]

16. OBAMA!

[DavidDvorkin]

17. Democrats are thin skinned. Republicans display righteous, virile anger.

[Hekate]

20. roflmao

:rofl:

[Why Syzygy]

18. They used the provision to 'CUT TAXES'

History

The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 created reconciliation (See Pub.L. 93-344, § 310; 88 Stat. 297; 2 U.S.C. § 641.) but Congress came to use it in the 1980s. Congress used reconciliation to enact President Bill Clinton's 1993 (fiscal year 1994) budget. (See Pub.L. 103-66, 107 Stat. 312.) President Clinton wanted to use reconciliation to pass his health care plan, but Senator Robert Byrd insisted that the health care plan was out of bounds for a process that is theoretically about budgets.

Process

To trigger the reconciliation process, Congress passes a concurrent resolution on the budget instructing one or more committees to report changes in law affecting the budget by a certain date. If the budget instructs more than one committee, then those committees send their recommendations to the Budget Committee of their House, and the Budget Committee packages the recommendations into a single omnibus bill. In the Senate, the reconciliation bill then gets only 20 hours of debate, and amendments are limited. Because reconciliation limits debate and amendment, the process empowers the majority party.

Until 1996, reconciliation was limited to deficit reduction, but in 1996 the Senate adopted a precedent to apply reconciliation to any legislation affecting the budget, even legislation that would worsen the deficit. Under the administration of President George W. Bush Congress used reconciliation to enact three major tax cuts. Efforts to use reconciliation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling failed because these initiatives did not meet the criteria of the reconciliation process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconciliation_(Senate)

[NorthernSpy]

21. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother."

Remember when Obama said that? He was joking, and it got some laughs.


But yeah, we're keeping score.


Obama is conciliatory and diplomatic, and because of that his opponents have often assumed that he was a pushover, and imagined that they could bully him, or undermine him, or that they could completely withhold their cooperation and face no consequences. They have been mistaken.