GOP to Obama: How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?

GOP leaders have a new complaint about President Obama: He’s not reaching out to them nearly as much as he did earlier this year, when he road-tested his pledge of post-partisanship, only to get uniformly rebuffed on his first big legislative initiative.

Here’s GOP Rep. Eric Cantor, giving voice to the new GOP gripe:



I asked Cantor spokesperson Joe Pounder if this was the real view of House GOP leaders. He argued that while Obama engaged at the outset — watching the Super Bowl with GOPs, for instance — there were now multiple cases where Republicans had been snubbed.

For instance, Pounder said, the White House has not responded to the House GOP proposal for $375 billion in budgetary savings for the next five years. What’s more, Pounder continued, Obama has met only with Democrats on several recent occasions.

Of course, Democrats respond that Obama’s initial outreach efforts weren’t exactly reciprocated. House Republicans unanimously opposed his stimulus and his budget, and almost all of them opposed the big war spending bill. Many refused to condemn Rush Limbaugh for saying he hopes Obama fails.

On health care, a leading Republican — Senator Chuck Grassley — keeps raising the bar for what will count as “bipartisanship” from Dems. He recently suggested that a health care bill wouldn’t be truly bipartisan unless it didn’t contain any public insurance option, and also suggested it wouldn’t count as bipartisan unless it has lots of GOP support.

Of course, there’s still hope. Maybe if Obama invites Republicans to watch the All Star Game, they’ll drop their opposition to his agenda…

About his promise to "attempt" bipartisanship, and that I fully expect that ship to sail after the appropriate rope-a-doping has born fruit:)

People still just don't get nuance. I'm amazed daily around here. Sadly, even the GOP is more aware than some DUers... pity, that.

...or allow us to author a, 'compromise bill.'

The second time he called, they needed to wash their hair.

The third time he called, their long lost cousin from Wasilla was visiting.

He got the message. (I hope)

I guess the conservatives feel they can get what they want by never reaching out.

At some point, you get tired of extending that hand.

Obama gave them a chance to shake his hand or bite it. The chose to bite it,
and now they're whining that he's not extending it any more? What did they
expect him to do, chop it off and serve it to them for dinner?

(umm, on second thought, don't answer that)

LOL

and he learned it before the first kiss.

with lots of eyes on the process, so that when Cantor and his ilk come whining that they're not being "engaged", they look even more foolish.

Madison should rise from the grave and bitchslap him into next week...

journalists happy who are calling for no more bi-partisanship.

"GOP leaders complain that the phone calls and White House invitations have slacked off — perhaps because Obama’s early efforts to woo Republicans yielded few votes.

“I think that in the beginning they seemed a lot more willing to go in and engage with us,” said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor."


And, really..Obama did the right thing by extending his hand but how many times does it take to be bitten by liars and hypocrites? Obama doesn't suffer fools.

to discuss issues and legislation. Just not the idiots.

That's interesting...I had not considered that possibility.

Obama should invite all 4 of them to a picnic for the 4th of July.

mark

Happy to rec! ;)