Posted on 01/27/2013 12:57:51 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Obama: I'd Get More Done If GOP Wasn't Punished for Working With Democrats By Fox and Limbaugh By Noel Sheppard Created 01/27/2013 - 3:22pm
"If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it."
So said Barack Obama in an interview just published by The New Republic:
FRANKLIN FOER, EDITOR NEW REPUBLIC: Are there any forces for reform within the Republican Party, people you've been able to establish some sort of working relationship with?
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well, look, I've always believed that there are a bunch of Republicans of goodwill who would rather get something done than suffer through the sort of nasty atmosphere that prevails in Washington right now. It's not a fun time to be a member of Congress.
And I think if you talk privately to Democrats and Republicans, particularly those who have been around for a while, they long for the days when they could socialize and introduce bipartisan legislation and feel productive. So I don't think the issue is whether or not there are people of goodwill in either party that want to get something done. I think what we really have to do is change some of the incentive structures so that people feel liberated to pursue some common ground.
One of the biggest factors is going to be how the media shapes debates. If a Republican member of Congress is not punished on Fox News or by Rush Limbaugh for working with a Democrat on a bill of common interest, then you'll see more of them doing it.
It's not a fun time to be a member of Congress.
I think John Boehner genuinely wanted to get a deal done, but it was hard to do in part because his caucus is more conservative probably than most Republican leaders are, and partly because he is vulnerable to attack for compromising Republican principles and working with Obama.
The same dynamic happens on the Democratic side. I think the difference is just that the more left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word. And I think at least leaders like myself—and I include Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi in this—are willing to buck the more absolutist-wing elements in our party to try to get stuff done.
Really? "Left-leaning media outlets recognize that compromise is not a dirty word?"
Which ones?
Do the folks at MSNBC want Obama to compromise with Republicans? Or the people at the New York Times?
How about CBS News where its political director recently advocated Obama destroy the Republican Party in his second term.
No, there's no push for compromise from the liberal media.
As for Reid and Pelosi, they've done everything but try to work with Republicans since they took over both chambers of Congress in 2007.
In fact, their first budget attained not one single Republican vote in the Senate or the House. Ditto 2009's stimulus bill and 2010's healthcare reform.
The same is true for Obama himself who days after his first inauguration told Republican leaders interested in assisting in the crafting of stimulus legislation, "I won."
It's truly laughable that a Democratic President of the United States would be blaming members of the media for his inability to reach across the aisle and convince members of the opposition to work with him.
Ronald Reagan had a far more hostile media and seemed capable of doing it. Ditto George W. Bush during his first term.
But Obama can't, and that's Fox News and Limbaugh's fault?
No, compromise with Republicans has been a dirty word to the left and their media minions at least since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007.
Suggesting otherwise is absurd.
Head of state attacking private citizen for expressing political opinion equals FASCISM!!!!!
“Great take apart on O’s comments. Thanks.”
Sure thing...I enjoy parsing political talk.
The Republicans are not punished by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. This is just another manipulation by the Excuse Maker for not moving a silly agenda forward to satisfy his
uninformed voter base.
The Republicans are only satisfying the people who put them in office by voting the way they do. I hope for the next four years they continue as they have been doing until we can get somebody reasonable in the White House, not a spoiled child type.
Aparently FOX and Rush Limbaugh are among His Royal Majesty’s loyal opposition?
( Dream On!)
Too late Hussein!
We are on to your fascist ways, and so is the nation and The People.
We will destroy you Hussein, the gauntlet has been cast.
What would happen if 50 million Americans stood up and said No More? We should force term limits onto the ballot and any RINO that opposes it is primaried out. Any democrat that opposes it , ads will be created going after him/her.
We have a voice. Might be a good time to use it.
I like the way you speak.
Its so much better than all the demoralizing defeatist crap going around.
“I’d get more done if the Jews weren’t holding the country hostage” - A. Hitler, 1936.
History has a bad way of repeating itself due to liberals.
Preident Obama...every buck he doesn’t pass, he spends..
I, I, I, I, I, I, I,etc. It’s always about him.
translation: I could redistribute, confiscate, and regulate more if all journalists were left wing turds.
You’re forgetting we’re still a Republic even though only hanging by a thread.
Obama, as previously stated, thinks tyranny by the majority is just fine. Here in Ohio, we never forget that out of 88 counties, Obama only carried 17. The idea that because the other 71 counties were outvoted does not mean we’ll just get in line for what plans they have dreamed up. Our congressional district went heavily for Romney (while holding our noses) with an anti-Obama message we constantly remind our house rep.
Excellent point. Obama wants us all to listen to him but throws a temper tantrum if we listen to someone else.
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