Just a guess, they have to fix the next engineered crisis by the end of the month. Not working out a compromise and just standing one's ground won't lead to any deals or cans getting kicked down the road.

he spoke with him. I am asking why would the President have had a reason to speak with him - who is he in the scheme of things?

But you knew that.

I've never been impressed by title or station.

...yep, more 3-Dimensional chess here. First...President Obama has been getting pummeled in the corporate media in recent weeks for being a "recluse"...not "reaching out" (and for many good reasons)...that he was aloof. This move, along with the dinner with Gramps McQueeg and friends is part of trying to neutralize that PR problem. This is supposed to make President Obama look more Clinton or LBJesque. It also makes Boner and Turtleman look more inept than they already are.

By having Eddie Munster over the President also shines a light, once again, on what this sleezeball stands for...especially when it comes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. The latest Ryan "proposal" was more draconian than the one he and Mittens got their heads handed to them with last November. It has the corporate yappers talking about how the ruhspublicans are truly at the heart of this government dysfunction and making sure if there's blame to be spread about the fiscal mess we're in, Ryan gets his share of it.

The last game is the chance by "reaching out" and making it look like Ryan is working with this administration, he'll draw the ire of the teabaggers and the other unhinged and get knocked down a peg or two in any attempt to rise in the party oligarchy.