http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/02/obama_to_gop_stop_blowing_thin.html#moreObama to GOP: Bring ideas, not TNTSome of President Barack Obama's comments Monday when he met with participants of his fiscal-responsibility task force seemed to be previews of remarks he's likely to make tonight to a nationally televised joint session of Congress on the issues of bipartisanship and fiscal responsibility.
For instance, in response to a question from Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) Obama, who asked the president to use his influence on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get her to allow the Republican minority to participate more fully in the bill-writing process, Obama warned the Republicans against obstructing merely for the sake of obstruction:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, with regard to that, I think you're making an important point. And you know, my response, first of all, is I'm not in Congress, so I don't want to interject myself too much into Congressional politics.
REP. BARTON: We'd love you to interject yourself. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: But -- but I do want to make this point, and I think it's important. On the one hand, the majority has to be inclusive. On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive. And so to the extent that on many of these issues we are able to break out of sort of the rigid day-to-day politics and think long-term, then what you should see, I think, is the majority saying, what are your ideas?
The minority has got to then come up with those ideas and not just want to blow the thing up. And you know, I think that on some of these issues, we're going to have some very real differences. And you know, presumably the majority will prevail, unless the minority can block it.
But you're just going to have different philosophical approaches to some of these problems. But on the issue that was just raised here, on procurement, on the issues, some of the issues surrounding health care, the way it cuts isn't even going to be Democratic- Republican.
It's going to be -- you know, there may be regional differences. There may be a whole host of other differences. And if that's -- if we can stay focused on solving problems, then I will do what I can, through my good offices, to encourage the kind of cooperation you're encouraging.
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