President Obama to speak at House GOP retreat

[sabra]

Source: CNN

Washington (CNN) – Rep. Mike Pence, chair of the House Republican Conference, said Tuesday that President Obama had accepted an invitation to address GOP members of Congress at the group's retreat later this month.

"House Republicans are grateful that the President of the United States has accepted our invitation to meet with the Republican Conference later this month," Pence said in a statement released by his office. "House Republicans look forward to presenting the president with our proposals to protect our nation, create jobs, control federal spending, lower the cost of health care, achieve energy independence and strengthen families."

The House Republican Conference is slated to meet in Baltimore Jan. 28-30.


Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/12/first-on-the-ticker-president-obama-to-speak-at-house-gop-retreat/

[closeupready]

1. Oh, Gawd.

:eyes:

[T Wolf]

2. As long as he continues to "bow down" to these cretins, they will know that he will NOT fight

them on issues.

This is one time where I agree - "Do not bend low before the enemy, Mr. President."

[jasi2006]

56. Obama is not afraid of their faces. ..no matter what we think. nt

[NYC_SKP]

118. Obama is not afraid of their feces, either. n/t

[tekisui]

3. Interesting. They stand united against Obama and the Dems,

yet he is going to talk to them. I am doubtful any good will be received from the goppers.

[DevonRex]

113. But how did you like the ass kicking he gave THEM? nt

[hlthe2b]

4. He loves to enter the lion's den, doens't he

I'm sure they will have WONDERFUL ideas to present...:eyes:

[Dinger]

19. lion's den my ass (nt)

[Javaman]

27. More like squishing into the clown car. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

83. heh

:spray:

[villager]

5. Does he ever speak in front of "leftist" groups, anymore?

Or would that be too politically difficult?

[closeupready]

8. Speaking to a significant portion of his base is politically risky, don't you get it?

Speaking to the ever-dwindling number of Republicans in Congress can only bolster his popularity.

:sarcasm:

[SpartanDem]

26. Obama spoke to the HRC in October

[villager]

32. there was indeed the revisiting of some of his campaign pledges, in front of the HRC...

Hopefully, his "handlers" aren't seeing the GOP invite -- what will he pledge to revisit, in front of them? -- as some sort of quid pro quo...

[Chicago dyke]

69. oooh, so impressive!

speaking to a bunch of profession party throwing artists in the Village, who are guaranteed to go along with anything he says or does, despite his lack of action on DADT or DOMA. so brave.

/dripping sarcasm thingee/

[Don Caballero]

6. Shows our President is not afraid to face the enemy

This guy is turning out to be the best President of my generation.

[riverdale]

71. His enemy is progressives like us

and yes, he is afraid to face us

[Window]

73. Wow. That says a lot. n/t

[countingbluecars]

7. I bet they thought he would decline.

Now they have to come up with some real proposals.

[Xenotime]

61. No shit!

[stuart68]

9. keep your friends close

and your enemies closer...

[fl_dem]

11. great minds.....well you know...LOL n/t

[katandmoon]

15. It's not Repugs Obama considers enemies. It's progressives, liberals, the left...

[Don Caballero]

20. Oh please with this crap.

Obama is a progressive, a liberal, a lion of the left.

[No Elephants]

47. No, he is not a liberal,. By his own words, he is a New Democrat

Praise him, if you wish, but you should at least get your facts and terminology straight before calling someone else's statement crap.

[TankLV]

53. If that is so, then I'm the Queen of England.

And I'm not...

Only in your delusional thinking, honey...

[Vidar]

29. Precisely correct. Therein lies the secret of Obama's "bipartisanship".

[Window]

74. Hmmm. I wonder why. n/t

[treestar]

87. Please come off that cross

And if the progressives have something to say whey do they not say it rather than expecting Obama to just be their servant? The sense of entitlement is astounding and frankly, embarassing, as one has the right wing claiming the left is just that - entitled and expecting the government to cater to them.

[fl_dem]

10. Pres. Obama is a smart man

He may not be too popular with the left right now with the HCR mess but he's not dumb. He may be keeping with the old adage of, keeping you friends close and your enemies closer. 80% of a question is a statement, their questions to him amongst themselves will say A LOT.

[AlinPA]

40. Maybe he can have a dialogue with Joe Wilson and that wild eyed old woman from NC.

The SS better frisk them all, there will be some crazed haters in there.

[fl_dem]

51. crazed haters..LOL thats exactly what they are.....

But any kind of dialogue he has with them is a LOT more than Bush ever had with dems. Its an fact I use frequently with my repug friends, "at least THIS President is intelligent enough to consider another's point of view before dismissing it"!

[buff2]

12. WTF?

Why is he doing this? What about US? Those fools didn't elect him,WE did.Yes,put in MORE repuke policies.That's what this country needs. :sarcasm: :wtf:

[DebbieCDC]

13. How nice, he's going to break bread with his pals

What'll they talk about -- who gets the next middle-class funded bailout?

[tabasco]

94. How'd that work out for you?

Genius.

[katandmoon]

14. Why is this news? It would only be news if he told them to go fuck themselves.

[JoePhilly]

16. They invited him, he accepted. Big Deal. Why are some of "us" whining??

[No Elephants]

48. Why are you whining about what other people post about the President

on a message board? At least they're commenting on somthing that happened IRL.

[Window]

75. Because that's what they do best.

[Hekate]

79. Indeed it is

[onehandle]

17. I hope the Secret Service frisks these guys but good.

There are some really unstable individuals on the GOP side of the House.

[AlinPA]

37. That is a good point. Hopefully the Secret Service will check the GOP congresspeople

for weapons. There are some nut cases among them.

[FrenchieCat]

18. They probably invited him thinking he was going to decline!

:rofl:

[countingbluecars]

24. Surprise, Surprise!

They only have a couple of weeks to work on their proposals. How many different ways can they say cut taxes?

"House Republicans look forward to presenting the president with our proposals to protect our nation, create jobs, control federal spending, lower the cost of health care, achieve energy independence and strengthen families."

[Cha]

41. There's no way he would

turn this down..

So arrogant, they wouldn't even realize there's no way he'd turn this down.

They'll propose their usual stupidty and Pres Obama will have listened to them.

[sabrina 1]

84. Why would they think that? He has always been far more

willing to speak to Republicans than to Progressives. Wake up, this is not a president that wants to be seen as a 'Gawd Forbid' Liberal or in any way viewed as 'left' even of center. He has made that plain. His COS, speaking for him I presume since he hasn't contradicted him, has said that they 'ignore the left'. I thought once we had control of all three branches of Govt. we could finally 'ignore the right' and their crazy ideas.

As for Pence, just on principle alone that man should be ignored. He is a close friend of Erik Prince, owner of the infamous and murderous organization, Blackwater. Obama dumped ACORN, the people with whom he worked on community organizing when he was establishing his political career and remained silent when Congress wrongfully and unConstitutionally attempted to defund them. He said not one word in their defense, not even the words he spoke about teabaggers, who he called 'ordinary Americans getting engaged in the process' or some such weasel words.

ACORN has been vindicated. There were no words of congratulations or apology from the WH for them. Blackwater otoh, has not only not been vindicated but the owner himself has been implicated in murder and sex trafficing.

I hope he enjoys his time with Prince's best friend Pence ~ I would like to see my president spending time with real progressives. With people like DeFazio eg. rather than those whose ideas we fought so hard against to put a Democrat in the WH.

You have your opinion, but people are not blind. They see what they see and increasingly it is not what they expected to see when they voted for Democrats. There's nothing you can do about that, unless you have some influence with this administration. I doubt they care much though. They seem to think they need Repulicans more than Democrats, although I'm sure that will change temporarily for the election cycles.
'

[FarLeftFist]

21. Fearless Leader

[uppityperson]

22. Good. he is President of all of us, perhaps can open a few minds there. Why are people

whining about this? Do you truly want to continue the extreme bipolarity that has happened? Should the president really ignore a whole group of people because they oppose him and his policies or should the continue to try and chip away at them?

[nyy1998]

30. Agreed, and it's a smart political move.

He's going to them, so they can't accuse him of not trying to be bipartisan.

[CBR]

34. I totally agree. These are politicians in Congress for crying out loud. nt

[AlinPA]

39. Of course they will treat him with great "respect". Wilson and his ilk will

be very polite and fair (that wild eyed old woman from NC as an example) . Such nice people in that group.

[tanyev]

36. I seem to recall an administration that did ignore a whole group of people who opposed them

for the entire 8 years they were in office. Didn't work out so well.

[AlinPA]

38. I see your point, but remember that they hate him. They hate him with a crazed passion. I'd worry

that he is well protected by the Secret Service.

[ElmoBlatz]

57. They invited him

Are you implying they invited him in order to do physical harm?

[AlinPA]

59. No, their leadership invited him probably trying to embarrass him somehow or to taunt him. There

are enough hatefilled republicans in the house to cause concern for his safety.

[Doctor_J]

55. Are you kidding?

NOT A SINGLE REPUKE HAS VOTED FOR ANYTHING YET. IT'S BEEN A YEAR, FOR GOD'S SAKE.

[Window]

76. Thank you. n/t

[treestar]

86. Agreed and he is not ignoring the left

That is so stupid.

[santamargarita]

23. Why does he waste his time on these fascist pigs?

n/t

[harun]

25. Democrats are being far too complacent in the debate agains the Pukes.

They should be out on the talk shows ever day highlighting none of the Pukes voting for the HC package in the Senate and how they are being obstructionist at a great cost to the country. Putting their own political futures ahead of progress for the country.

They should be out there aggressively screaming this. Instead they just concede all Puke votes as lost and instead have to bow to DINO's like Lieberman, Baucus, DiFi and Bayh.

Hell they should have offered a massive tort reform package to the Pukes and see which of them would bite. Give the tort reform in exchange for five senators votes and you've got real reform.

[Algorem]

28. He's going to make Daddy love him and Daddy will come back.You'll see.

[villager]

33. I think we really really need a President without daddy issues.

Who was the last one we had?

From Reagan onward, they've all had 'em, somewhat acutely...

[FrenchieCat]

43. This is such a stupid statement, till it ain't even funny.

pathetic.

[villager]

46. Yes, your statement is.

n/t

[Arkana]

67. How classy of you.

[Hekate]

78. Also WTF

:wtf:

[Hekate]

77. WTF

:wtf:

[RoccoR5955]

31. How much you wanna bet, he changes parties?

Then laughs at all of us!

[FrenchieCat]

44. Hardy Har-har......

How old are you?

[alp227]

35. WTF?

I wonder what Bush woulda done if he'd spoken at a House Democratic Conference.

I thought that Obama would bring change. Instead, it looks like a rerun of the Clinton administration; Clinton bowed down to the GOP much of his years (think NAFTA, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Defense of Marriage Act, Welfare Reform, but on the good side he balanced the budget)

[NYC Liberal]

42. So Obama should do what Bush would have done..? nt

[Hekate]

80. I've concluded what a lot of them wanted was a Bushlike demagog with a (D) after his name

Heh-heh-heh, as Chimpy used to say.

Boy, that would have been good for the country, wouldn't it? :sarcasm:

Hekate

[struggle4progress]

45. "Please please please tell us what you want next so we can say: No!"

[truthisfreedom]

49. Fear, fear! Oh noes, it's a trap!

*yawn*

[No Elephants]

50. I don't think he could have refused the invitation without a lot of shat

from Republicans, the media, etc. Accepting leaves them with nothing to say. That does not mean I trust them to behave themselves during the meeting and not try to set political traps. I just don't see that he had much of a realistic choice on the invitation itself.

I'm going to wait and see what happens at the meeting itself before I decide this is a good thing or a bad thing or just a non-event.

[Toots]

52. Can you imagine Bush* doing this?

Bush* wouldn't even allow Democrats in to town hall meetings to hear him.. This has to truly blow Republican's little minds..They know it is something they would not nor could not ever do..

[Amonester]

62. No, perhaps they know he will do everything they ask him to do.

Like we haven't seen that happened yet.

Little thingies like no torture pictures releases, no public option, and on, and on.

So why am I worried about what these nutbags will 'order' him to NOT do next? :puke:

[Myrina]

65. +1

:)

[Doctor_J]

54. Maybe he IS like Chamberlain

Appeasing terrorists like Hoekstra, Bachmann, Boner, and Cornyn

[groundloop]

58. Smart move by President Obama

It takes away pukes ability to claim they were trying to be bipartisan by offering the invite but it was refused.

[democracy1st]

63. I'm not sure if the admin even knows right from wrong anymore!

[Blue_Tires]

60. how many more "YOU LIE" outbursts this time??

[Myrina]

64. ... and the House GOP'ers also look forward to distorting anything POTUS says ...

... at said retreat.

[Arkana]

66. Wonder who'll yell "YEW LIE" this time?

[Catshrink]

68. Someone get a photo of him with Bachmann & Foxx

Call it a crazy sandwich.

[classysassy]

70. Great move

if he can change just one republican,its a victory,"nothing ventured nothing gained".Smooth move Mr President.

[boppers]

72. I loves me some splodin' heads.

Factions of "demonize the enemy! never talk to them!" are exploding in amusing ways.

[depakid]

81. Hope you equally enjoy the loss of the Democratic majority

because that exactly what actions like these will lead to. That and the continuing decline into third world status.

[boppers]

82. The majority heard Obama was going to talk to everyone. It was part of his platform.

Some folks seem to have forgotten that, or never heard that message, perhaps.

Recall people freaking out over the idea of Obama talking to Iran or Cuba?
About Obama saying that everyone would have a seat at healthcare negotiations?
About how Obama would listen to doves, and Hawks, on Iraq and Afghanistan?

More of the same, with some folks demanding that Obama not talk to people, and how he would lose on that platform.

He lost his way into the White House, it seems.

[Number23]

99. Are you ever right about ANYTHING??

[Born_A_Truman]

105. NostraDUamus?

[depakid]

108. I guess we will see

Tick tock.

Tuesday sets another set of squares on the board up in Illinois.

[alcibiades_mystery]

116. LOL

[wordpix]

85. "our proposals to protect our nation, create jobs..." House Repukes have proposals?

I didn't know that.

[Robb]

88. So. How them predictions working out there, folks!

There's some real winners in this thread. :rofl:

[firedupdem]

89. No kidding!

Crazy shit here! :rofl:

[treestar]

90. So true!

Hindsight was fun, reading this thread. :rofl:

[Spazito]

91. LOL! Ain't that the truth!

I am so glad this thread was kicked back to page 1, I am laughing so hard at the 'prognosticators' predicting 'doom, gloom, betrayal, devastation for the Democratic party', etc.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Bobbie Jo]

97. Cue the crickets.

:rofl:

[euphoria12leo]

92. They say the president is weak

but he had the courage to go to the Republican retreat. I'm so glad he did the Q&A smack down otherwise some would say it was just another speech. Empty, we've heard it all before. Refreshing my memory on the negative post was rewarding today (angry at the time) because the president showed he has what it takes to face his enemies. His supporters knew he could handle the thugs.


:applause:

[Cha]

95. And, he brought Cameras so

everyone can see just how he kicked ass and took names.:)

[euphoria12leo]

110. Read down a little

A naysayer on board after the fact. The whole post is unreal.


:grr:

[Cha]

112. A kneejerker ..I provided

a link to one of the gop mopups from our Prez.:) One Jeb Hensarling.}(

[euphoria12leo]

114. Did you read post #98? n/t

[Cha]

115. That was

it. The kneejerk.:)

[NOLALady]

93. Kick

:kick: for a Duzy thread.

[lumpy]

96. Kick . Hope some of the naysayers listened to Obama's

responses to the GOP bullshiters. Obama managed to educate some of his Dem base and hopefully some Repub ignoramouses. I hadn't read this thread before, makes one wonder if some of these wishy washy posters are with us or not.

[Number23]

100. +50! This whole thread is just chock full of DUzy material

It's actually kind of sad.

[panzerfaust]

98. perhaps he hopes to get his picture taken with Karl?

Enough with reaching out with the outstretched hand already.

Time to start reaching out with the closed fist - the Democratic party is not actually supposed to be the same as the Republican.

If all you seek is compromise, you will never win.

Is Barack Hussein Obama II the next Joseph Isadore Lieberman I ?

[lumpy]

101. Obama doesn't want to be a dictator. He has the good sense to

realize he needs support from his political opponents to get anything done. Close fist politics doesn't necessarily reap benefits; the reality is that most issues that pass are the result of compromise and NO, Obama is not the next Joseph Lieberman.

[Robb]

102. Are you for real? nt

[DevonRex]

103. Good lord. The meeting already happened. And Obama wiped the floor with them. nt

[Hekate]

106. You didn't watch the event or its reruns, did you? I recommend it highly. rofl

:rofl:

[Cha]

111. Too bad your post highlights that

you don't know what went on at the gop conference. Kinda gives ya away as a kneejerker.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x429037

[Doctor_J]

104. They must be trying to clean up the mess made by the GOP senators

He kicked their asses, and now the House will spend a month getting ready to ambush him.

Decline, Mr. President. All of them want you to fail, and half want you dead. To hell with them

[DFLforever]

107. Let me give this one a great big Kick.

[lamp_shade]

109. I was looking for this thread. I think I'll bookmark it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

117. This thread is rich with fail

:rofl:

[boppers]

119. Change I can't believe in! Bosh 2.0!

Wait, schadenfreude is bad, right?

[Robb]

120. Wow!

In light of today's meeting with Democrats, the responses to this thread become even more enlightening. :)