**** Heads Up: President Obama Holds A News Conference, Live 2:20pm EST ****

[Clio the Leo]

A good time will, no doubt, be had by all. :)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live/president-obama-holds-a-news-conference

http://cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN3.aspx

http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1

[Larkspur]

1. He must have heard about the poll that said many of his 2008 donors won't support him in 2012

When money talks, Obama responds.

[gateley]

3. Oh stop it. He KNOWS about the backlash, he's addressing it. Granted, it's to

further his plan, but he's done this in other instances, too.

[MrsCorleone]

9. Whoooo hoooooooo!

Welcome Romney/Rubio in 2012!

...or President Thune? Word on the Street is that he's the surprise Prez candidate.

For now, we've got work to do, people of the Internets! We're almost done completely tearing down Prez Obama! By 2012, a Republican win will be a cakewalk! Whooo hoooooooo!

:rofl:

[TBF]

37. I didn't max out but gave quite a bit in 2008, it will be 0 in 2012. nt

[Fruittree]

104. I think he's said all along that he's willing to be a one term

president. Agree with him or not, does it occur to anyone that he may simply be trying to do what's right?

[gateley]

2. "A good time will, no doubt, be held by all." Except the POTUS, I'm guessing. nt

[gateley]

4. Rec (to cancel out the unrec) *eyeroll* People aren't even willing to listen? nt

[ibegurpard]

5. nope

I'm done listening to him make a speech and then do the opposite

[gateley]

7. I see your point, but I'm always willing to listen to maybe hear something I hadn't

considered. I must admit, I listen a lot less enthusiastically these days.

[dave29]

6. actions speak louder than, wait, what if there were actions and now words

I'm confused about when I'm supposed to be outraged.

Regardless, I am furious about everything that may or may not be said.

[gateley]

8. Yeah, but it's to our benefit (IMO) to hear things from the horse's mouth

rather than reading someone else's interpretation and basing our judgment on that. Although, I absolutely do not listen to McConnell, Boehner, etc because I don't trust them, so maybe that's the point you're at here. I'm still hanging on. :7

[dave29]

51. I should have added sarcasm tag.

I am not furious. I think the President is doing what needs to be done for the folks who count on him the most. And no, I am not talking about the rich.

[gateley]

65. Sorry - I usually "get" it. I agree that if I were on Unemployment and had

kids to feed and a house to heat, I'd be breathing a sigh of relief at this deal. I'd save my outrage for when I was back on my feet, but survival would be upmost in my mind, and he made sure that would be possible for a while longer.

[monmouth]

11. The unemployed will see relief, that has to count for a lot...n/t

[gateley]

19. I agree. nt

[TBF]

24. we've seen and heard enough. nt

[Whisp]

10. the vultures are all in line on CNN

Borger, King, Gergen. etc.

all so self satisfied that Obama is getting pounded from all sides.

licking their lips in glee.

ugly fuckers all of them

[butterfly77]

33. +1

[polichick]

12. Will he apologize for cutting Dems out of the deal? nt

[Clio the Leo]

13. AHHH! He's LATE! He's lied to us again! He promised this thing would start at 2:20!!! nt

[rocktivity]

16. LOL--well, it's showtime now!

"Good afternoon, everybody..." he looks chipper enough...

:headbang:
rocktivity

[gateley]

26. That was the last straw! I turned off the TV - that'll show him! nt

[phleshdef]

14. Watching all the media goons for diff networks being recorded in front of the podium is hilarious.

[Clio the Leo]

15. starting now. nt

[phleshdef]

17. Hes on his game today.

[otohara]

22. Is He Playing

offense or defense?

I can't tell

[gateley]

31. Offense, IMO.

[Clio the Leo]

18. Heh. Just accused the GOP of trying to end the middle class tax cuts...

.... which is bending the truth more than I've ever seen him do. (but's that's how this all works)

Go get 'em!

[Mass]

25. Not strong enough! He is very nice with the GOP.

I am sympathetic to his position (even if I hate it), but I want to hear strong words from the president.

[Clio the Leo]

38. He's very nice with everyone, sorry, but you didnt elect an a** hole. nt

[Mass]

40. Sometimes, you need to fight and call blackmailers blackmailers.

You cant be nice all the time. And you can be harsh while staying presidential, BTW.

Also, the time for this presser was one or two months ago, to call the GOP out.

OK, I take it back: "hostage taker". That is what I am looking at.

[Clio the Leo]

20. "We cant get my preferred method through the Senate..."

... in part because of the objection of Mary Landrieu. (my words, not his)

[gateley]

35. I wish he WOULD have said that! :-)

[tishaLA]

21. "this isn't about the politics of the moment, it's about...

what we can get done right now"? Huh? Isn't that the definition of the politics of the moment?

[Mass]

28. I noticed too.

[Dawgs]

30. Well, you just kept the wealth gap as wide as ever. Good job Mr. President.

What are you going to compromise away next, our social security?

[gateley]

39. The politics of the moment would be continuing to argue, instead, he's saying

it's about accomplishing what he can now and continuing to fight.

That's what I took it to mean.

[xocet]

92. +1 n/t

[RichGirl]

96. Politics mean polls, popularity, the next election, etc.

As appose to getting something done right now that will actually help people....but may be bad polically for re-election. Two totally different things and I for one I'm glad he cares more about people than popularity or the next election.

[frylock]

103. these aren't the droids you're looking for

[craigmatic]

23. The fact that he has this conferencenow means that he's scared of losing liberal support

[TBF]

50. right -he's got to get through the vote. he is doing this to bring his senators into line. nt

[discopants]

101. That fact is he's trying to control the message

a very big thing that everyone's been asking him to do. Despite the bitching here he seems to have quite well.

[Clio the Leo]

27. "The issue is not me persuading the American, people, it's persuading the Senate.."

"and i haven't been able to budge them."

[TBF]

32. It's all the senate's fault - we've been hearing that for 2 years now. nt

[Mass]

36. It's called leadership. Call them out before the battle, not after.

[Clio the Leo]

29. "I would have liked to have seen a vote before the election."

[struggle4progress]

61. That was in the news before the election, too

[AngryOldDem]

34. "If I can't persuade John Boehner or Mitch McConnell..."

Good Lord.

[Clio the Leo]

41. "I'm unwilling to negotiate with hostage takers unless the hostage gets harmed." nt

[Mass]

42. "hostage taker", not "hostage negotiator". And BTW, kudos for that.

And you have your headlines for tonight and tomorrow.

[Clio the Leo]

46. lol thank you and yes I do.

For Christmas, I've asked Santa to give me a more sound-bity Obama. :)

[Clio the Leo]

43. "The GOP would have had a stronger position next year than they do currently." nt

[polichick]

44. Is this meant to pressure congressional Dems? nt

[gateley]

45. Don't know, but he's making sense to me! nt

[phleshdef]

49. He really is coming off as the last sane man standing.

[Gin]

55. time will tell...he made sense during the campaign too.

[gateley]

74. Yeah, but regardless of what happens in the future, people are going to

be able to keep their apartments and feed their kids for a while longer. So that's what makes sense to me.

[TBF]

48. Must be because he sure doesn't give a damn about us. nt

[polichick]

52. Seems like he should be talking to them in private. nt

[RichGirl]

97. Which "us" are you referring to?

The "us" who have no job, no means of income, unable to feed our kids or keep a roof over our heads.

OR

The "us" who have political views and expect him to follow in line with them if he wants us to support him and re-elect him.

I don't think the second "us" is high priority for him and I respect him for that.

[TBF]

98. By us I mean the "non-rich", RichGirl. What a moniker. nt

[Clio the Leo]

47. "I will be happy to see the GOP test to see if I'm itching for a fight (in the future) ..."

"and I suspect that they will find that I am."

[jenmito]

53. I was about to quote the same thing. n/t

[Bluerthanblue]

64. I've been hoping we'd hear him speak like this.

:hi:

[Clio the Leo]

54. "I want to get the people into a safe place so that we can have..."

"a broad discussion on our (financial) future."

[WiffenPoof]

56. If He Can't Make The Repubs "Budge" Now....

What makes him think that he can make them budge in the future??? I just don't get it.

-PLA

[jenmito]

57. He has the veto pen. On THIS vote, he didn't want to gamble with the lives of all those

in the 98% who'd have lost their tax cuts and unemployment benefits.

[WiffenPoof]

100. I Understand....n/t

[phleshdef]

58. Wow, who was that that just almost pissed their pants during the question?

[Dawgs]

59. "I'll take John Boehner at his word"... Great!! I feel much better now.

:eyes:

[Bluerthanblue]

60. He's making it clear- the Republicans golden grail is "tax cuts for WEALTHY"

He's direct, clear and as angry as I've ever seen him.

I especially like it that he's calling out Boehner and McConnell.

He's doing an excellent job of stating why we are where we are.

[xocet]

62. Obama's Misconception: Logical Persuasion vs. Political Force....

President Obama thinks that he needs to persuade the Republicans with logic instead of attempting to force them to do something by taking out something that they dearly want.

He claims not caving would hurt people and for that reason he will not fight: however, how has he helped the people whose homes are being foreclosed upon?

He also failed to answer why he could not have done this in the past two years: he resorted to the 60-votes-in-the-Senate argument.

Quote Mining Below - Context at CSPAN

---

President Obama: "The economy is about to recover."

President Obama: "I'll take John Boehner at his word...." (Lucy pulls the football away again, and it will keep happening until Charlie Brown stops playing ball.)

President Obama: "I've got a whole bunch of lines in the sand...." (Laughable at this point.)

President Obama: "This is the public option debate all over again...."

President Obama: "This is a big diverse country. Not everybody agrees with us...."

President Obama: "To get things done, we are going to compromise...."

President Obama: "If we were thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn't have a union...."

President Obama: "I'm keeping my eye on the long fight...."

---

Forget Bush - Forget Wall Street - Forget Bin Laden - Forget Torture - Forget the Public Option - Forget Cost Controls on the Insurance Companies
- Arrest Assange - Issue Global Kill Orders - Stay in Iraq - Stay in Afghanistan - Keep Guantanamo Bay Open - Appease Republicans - Et Cetera

[otohara]

63. Bomb Thrower Being Sworn In As Leader Soon

oh POTUS, face it....governing is not in the GOP DNA.

[Graybeard]

66. Prez just called Boehner a "bomb thrower".

He said when Boehner takes over in Jan. he will have to govern and not just stand on the side being a bomb thrower.

[Dawgs]

67. Getting the most passionate going after progressives on public option...

Why am I not surprised.

[Bluerthanblue]

78. he was pretty passionate about the Republicans not budging on

rich tax cuts.

[phleshdef]

68. Holy shit, Obama does read DU.

[Beetwasher]

69. Details?

[phleshdef]

76. I can't even explain it, you'll have to watch it when the vids come out.

Don't worry, everyone will be talking about it.

[Clio the Leo]

70. Ohhh!!! He does NOT like the public option drum beaters...

.... probably the most ANGRY I've ever heard him as he talks about their "sanctimony."

"I'm feeln' kinda fire up!" (doesnt say that but he is)

[Bluerthanblue]

71. we could have a "purist position and no victories for the American people"

He's speaking the HARD truth- but it's the TRUTH people.

[gateley]

75. Agree. nt

[BeyondGeography]

72. He's getting testy

and giving the MSM their headline.

Bad, Barack.

[Schema Thing]

81. no, it's good.

[jenmito]

73. He's speaking strongly and has anger in his eyes.

[Dawgs]

77. Uh yeah, going after progressives. Only minutes after saying he trusts Boehner.

Spinning hard now. Blaming everyone but himself.

[Bluerthanblue]

82. listen closer, he just pointed out that his OWN personal positions

are very progressive. It's the hard truth- like it or not. this country isn't the Democratic states of America.

[jenmito]

84. Uh, he's blaming the "purists" and the media AND the Repubs. And rightfully so. n/t

[Clio the Leo]

89. He wasn't going after Rachel Maddow... lets put it like that...

.... and she is as progressive as they come. She's critical .... but she's fair.

[young but wise]

102. +1

[MrsCorleone]

90. Why are you intentionally spinning? He did NOT say that he "trusts" Boner.

He says he's taking Boner at his word in terms of what Boner has stated is the Republican position regarding tax cuts.

FFS.

[MrsCorleone]

93. self delete.

[gateley]

80. There's that passion we've been clamoring for! nt

[jenmito]

85. Yup! n/t

[Schema Thing]

79. I there somewhere I can buy stock in the Newsprint of the word "Testy"?

[Clio the Leo]

86. ha! nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

83. Yeeeeaaaah!

Saying what needed to be said.

[Bluerthanblue]

88. indeed-

this was an excellent press conference.

[jenmito]

91. Nobody can say he looked "beaten down" or "weak" or anything similar. n/t

[TBF]

99. Nope, he looked quite pleased with himself. nt

[Phoonzang]

94. Ooo.....a little heretical subthread here.

;-)

[Bluerthanblue]

87. the media summed it up as him saying "Get Real"-

they heard him.

[MrsCorleone]

95. Fox News is still repeating the talking point that Bill Clinton would have "pounded sand".

Lol!

Sounds just like DailyKos and DU!

:rofl: