Obama: Dems, GOP must cooperate in new year

[onehandle]

Source: AP

ONOLULU – President Barack Obama says Democrats and Republicans must work together in the new year and share responsibility for moving the country forward.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said Saturday that lawmakers must return to Washington next week prepared to make serious decisions about how to grow the economy in the short run and stay competitive in the future.

"I'm willing to work with anyone of either party who's got a good idea and the commitment to see it through," Obama said. "And we should all expect you to hold us accountable for our progress or our failure to deliver."

Obama said his New Year's resolution is to do everything he can to grow the economy, create jobs and strengthen the middle class, though he warned that the economic recovery is still fragile as the calendar turns to 2011.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110101/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_congress

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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!... Wait... Is he serious?



.

[truthisfreedom]

1. Good ol' "I'll work with anybody" Obama.

Not the "take back the country" president I hoped for, but certainly someone who gets the job done.

[swilton]

20. What 'job' is he getting done?

Turning this country into a feudal society with the bankers/elites and everyone else???

[primavera]

65. That would be the one. - n/t

[demwing]

47. I'll work with anybody (and maybe, if the mood strikes me, the far left) !

Obama vs Reagan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILg1-H6oNuM

[fasttense]

61. Thanks for the link. It's amazing how the 2 commentators had

to contort and twist logic to say that Obama is liberal and not more conservative than Raygun.

I haven't seen gymnastics like that since the Olympics.

[Lorien]

53. Getting the job done...for the other party. nt

[Still a Democrat]

2. He should work with the GOP

They'll be in control of the House and the Senate margin is thin. There's a lot he can't do without them.

[me b zola]

6. And when he had total power--large majorities in the house & senate?

He gave away that power. He handed it away.

[pacalo]

8. He's banking on a lot of people to have that mindset.

A lot can be done with the people's consent.

:eyes:

[bowens43]

16. f*ck that noise......

better to do nothing then give in on everything like he has so far.

[Golden Raisin]

3. Republicans' reply:

No, No, NO! Never, never, NEVER! Obstruct, obstruct, OBSTRUCT! Sneer, sneer, SNEER! FU, FU, FU!

[Amonester]

44. uh... You forgot another one: IMPEACH, IMPEACH, IMPEACH...

That's never "off the table" for them.

[Golden Raisin]

52. You are absolutely correct.

My bad. Hell, they'd lynch him if they could but will settle for impeachment.

[RoccoR5955]

4. A lot it will do...

When the RepubliCONs self stated goal is to see that Obama is a one term president!

[Synicus Maximus]

56. Of course their goal is for Obama to be a one turn president.

If there was a repub in office would not our goal to make him a one term president? In my fifty years of watching politics I don't recall when the opposition party every said, "Let's do all we can so the president will be re-elected.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

63. There's a difference between an unstated and a stated goal

Announcing to the public that "Our first goal is to make sure Obama is a one term president," is different than saying "We want to work with the President to solve the difficult problems that face our nation (while positioning our party to take over the White House)."

The Party of "No" has nothing to offer the American people, so the only thing they can do is attack and destroy. Unfortunately a lot of people confuse these attacks as having clearly stated goals which will help the country.

The Repugs biggest weapon is the undercurrent of racism which has always run their party. Racial fear/hatred is a powerful motivator. We can expect to see lots of "code words" for Obama's race between now and 2012. I'm sure Frank Luntz is already at work compiling a list, just as he did when the "Contract on America" was in process. He's the one who made "liberal" a pejorative.

[spartan61]

5. Oh sure, like the repugs are going

to let that happen.

[pacalo]

7. At the same time, the other side wants to cut "wasteful spending" while

"remaining vigilant in the face of continuing terrorist threats", according to their radio address. Continue war, stop wasting money on American people.

That's where Obama is asking Democrats to cooperate. Tired of reading between the lines of this b.s.; the SOTU speech can't come soon enough. Maybe it'll be spelled out then.

[Roy Rolling]

9. It' deja vu

all over again. Is it 2011 or 2009?

[valerief]

43. It's 2000, I think. Beware of 2001. nt

[MannyGoldstein]

10. I, for one, am thrilled we have an adult President

who realizes that the Republicans are unstoppable. As long as we agree to do whatever they want, it will be a bipartisan solution.

P.S.: yes, this is sarcasm.

[rhett o rick]

21. Well it always could be worse.

A meteor might hit the earth. Or Jeb Bush could be president.

[MannyGoldstein]

22. Thanks for pointing that out

If we don't all support whatever the President does, then Jeb or Palin will become president. This is another reason that we must do whatever the Republicans want.

P.S.: Again, this is sarcasm.

[rhett o rick]

26. What would we do w/o sarcasm? nm

[MannyGoldstein]

32. I need to add the 'sarcasm' disclaimer these days

It's become difficult to tell the difference between reality and an over-the-top joke.

[rhett o rick]

39. Yes I understand. I have a huge chip on my shoulder and looking for someone to fight.

The other day I started to vent on you for one of your posts (pre-sarcasm marking) then reread your post with a cooler head and recognized the sarcasm. I then noticed that others missed the sarcasm intent also. I assume their frustration matches mine. I love sarcasm, so plez dont stop. But including the sarcasm indicator is probably a good idea. I forget to do it.

NGU

[PSPS]

11. What he's saying is that we democrats "must" go along with what the GOP wants.

That's Obama's mindset. These excoriations of his, like this one, are really directed at democrats, not republicans. That explains why Obama's innumerable cave ins are, in Obama's mind, "cooperation."

Too bad Obama doesn't count himself among the "we." Conversely, it's dawned on most democrats by now that Obama is not among the "we."

[defendandprotect]

23. Exactly.... and a great performance by Obama in not listening to anyone but corporates/elites....

[Lorien]

55. The only people that he ever "fights'

are those of us who worked to get him elected (and no, I'm not talking about Goldmann Sachs).

[defendandprotect]

60. Yes ... very sadly true!!

[Earth Bound Misfit]

12. ...cuz that's worked so well thus far.

:eyes:

[BlueJac]

13. WTF?

[jimlup]

14. Excuse me while I vomit

:puke:

[bowens43]

15. he's still pushing this crap?

some people are incapable of learning from their mistakes ...............

[defendandprotect]

24. +1000% --

[sulphurdunn]

33. I don't think

anything Obama has done was a mistake in the sense that it ended otherwise than he intended.

[tularetom]

17. WTF is he gonna do - impeach himself?

Because that's what the republicans want.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

37. Sad but true, he will do anything to get re-elected and the pukes will do anything to defeat him.

Somehow I don't think this will prove very helpful for the majority of the Americans. I think the pukes will have an easier time getting what they want based on what BO has done for them so far.

[sendero]

18. Cooperate?

Bend over Obama.

[grahamhgreen]

19. Translation : I will continue the Bush agenda in regards to war, SS, & outsourcing

[Skink]

25. So he is going to start working with the Democrats now.

[formercia]

27. New Year starts out on a cheeful note

:sarcasm:

Do trolls get overtime for working on a Holiday?

[MineralMan]

28. If we could just get Democrats to work together,

we'd have a good start on 2012.

[somone]

29. "Well, there you go again"

Lube or no lube?

[jwirr]

30. Actually that is the best thing he could have said to start things off.

Now the ball is in their court and they cannot claim he did not try. Now he just needs to let the world know that they are still the party of no. At this point this is politics. When we need him to fight is when there is a specific bill that needs to win. The rest of the time he can let the voters see that he is trying. When they refuse it is their problem.

[Hydra]

57. No, that isn't quite it

This is our President basically saying "I know I didn't do enough for the Republican party for last two years, so I'll be happy to do more for you. Pardon me while I slap my base down again for you."

[L0oniX]

31. LOL

[Betty]

34. So I expect he'll work towards being a one term president

because that's probably their #1 item on the agenda.

[stlsaxman]

35. apropos to this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ehiio15ks

[BenzoDia]

36. From the very beginning Mr. Obama promised to be a president for all America, not just some.

Transcript of President Obama's victory speech:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

Nothing surprising in his recent message about the two sides working together.

[Doctor_J]

50. Well, if he wants to serve the teabaggers and bankers, he can't serve me

He's made his choice.

[Hydra]

58. It seems he's forgotten to serve the 2/3 of America that elected him

In favor of the 1/3 that want to see him fail.

[Doctor_J]

62. How's that working?

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

How many McPalin voters are now Obama supporters? don't think too hard on this one.

[freshwest]

38. They're stabbing him in the back.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

40. Does he have a choice? Better yet, do Republicans? The Repukes now own the House.

And unless Reid has the balls to change the filibuster rules, they'll continue to block everything.

So, I don't know what you guys are screaming about. It is precisely because Americans continue to elect Republicans that we're in this mess.

[sofa king]

41. You guys can laugh all you want, but this is how it's gonna be.

Obama said his New Year's resolution is to do everything he can to grow the economy, create jobs and strengthen the middle class, though he warned that the economic recovery is still fragile as the calendar turns to 2011.

That's what he's going to hold up, and that is what the Republicans are going to have to bat down if they want to continue their policy as a subversive and totally uncooperative minority party.

We can expect the President to do this over, and over, and over again for the next two years: stake out a decent, moderate, highly populist position, set that as the goal, and then wait for the keystone cops to show up and $%^& it all up for everyone.

Finally, in the summer of 2012, it's going to culminate with the President running down a laundry list of unreasonable Republican delays, demand that Congress pass the middle class tax cut extension independently of the rich peoples' cut (which by then 70% of all voters will support).

By then the electoral pie will be carved out the same way on every major issue, with President Obama and the Dems on the 70% side, and the Republicans, because they can only say no to everything, being on the 30% side... of everything.

We'll hate it, of course, because American moderation is about a goose-step short of everyone else's right wing lunacy. But the Republicans aren't going to get out from under this.

[valerief]

42. And if they don't cooperate he'll be forced to give the GOP everything they want.

:rofl:

[totodeinhere]

45. If he hadn't cooperated with the GOP during the lame duck session we would not have had DADT

repealed and START would not have been ratified and UI benefits would not have been extended. If he had listened to many on this board those good things wouldn't have happened. So do you want to go back to that old confrontation game and get nothing else accomplished, or do you want to continue to cooperate with them and get good things done? Every poll I have seen has said that by a wide margin the American people want bipartisan cooperation, not gridlock. If the hard liners on this board had there way, this country would be totally shut down and millions of people would suffer. Is that what you really want?

[w4rma]

46. We should have pounded the hell out of the GOP over START until they relented.

There is no reason to compromise on popular initiatives. Just take the case to the people and let the people throw out the politicians that won't do what the people want.

[Stargleamer]

48. "co-operate"-- euphemism for "capitulate to Republicans" n/t

[Doctor_J]

49. Probably doesn't matter any more.

Anyone who would be offended by more appeasement has already hopped off the bandwagon long ago. I voted, phone-banked, spent money, walked the neighborhoods in 2008 to get the fucking Republicans out of control. This president, by letting them walk all over him, spits in the face of everyone like me. I no longer care about another cave-in. He lost me after about 20 of them

[Turbineguy]

51. He means of course the Democrats

should help the Republicans finish destroying the country.

[Lorien]

54. Bingo. nt

[pa28]

59. They've already found a campfire to sing and roast marshmallows around..

Boehner referred to the deficit commission report as "something we can say yes to" and the White House is using Simpson/Bowles as a template for OMB plans.

This should work well until McConnell and Speaker Orangeglo decide to use the ground we've already given up as leverage for additional demands.

This is a going to be (another) really fun year!

[quakerboy]

64. I initially read that as "must corporate"

sounded more interesting.