President Obama intervenes in budget standoff

[Omaha Steve]

Source: LA Times


President Obama phones the House speaker and the Senate leader in an effort to broker a Republican-Democratic deal to avert a government shutdown.

By Kathleen Hennessey, Washington Bureau

Reporting from Washington—
As the budget stalemate lingered, President Obama reached out Saturday to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), urging them to reach a resolution that would avoid a government shutdown, the White House said.

In separate phone calls, the president told the two congressional leaders that a closure would be harmful "to our economic recovery," according to a description of the conversation released by the White House.

The announcement of the president's direct intervention marked a slight shift in White House strategy in the fight over a plan to fund the government for the rest of 2011. Until now, Vice President Joe Biden and budget director Jacob Lew had taken the public lead on attempting to broker a deal between House Republicans and Senate Democrats, while the president kept more distance from the fray.

But the window in which to reach a deal before a disruption in government operations is closing quickly. The current spending plan expires on Friday, giving leaders just a few days to agree on and pass a deal or convince the rank and file to pass another stopgap measure while talks continue.



Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-spending-20110403,0,1626964.story

[PSPS]

1. The last thing we need is Obama "intervening." This means the GOP will get everything they want.

[ncpmd]

6. OMG...NO...somebody stop him

We can't continue to survive his "compromising"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[eilen]

9. Captain Capitulation

strikes again

[MichiganVote]

2. And did what? Give another tax bailout to the politicians and billionaires?

[Me.]

3. Triangulation Strangulation

[Angry Dragon]

4. .........

:popcorn:

[Grassy Knoll]

7. I agree, let's see what they get first.....

instead of speculating and bitching.
:toast: :popcorn:

[lib2DaBone]

5. He will send in Geithner and Goldman Sachs to "Remedy" the "Problem"...

..like pouring gas on a fire to put the fire out...

[bahrbearian]

8. Kiss Social Security and Medicare good-bye

[AllTooEasy]

10. More Like..."Obama moves to put a spine back in Congressional Democrats"

Why can't Congressional Dems handle their own Constitutionally mandated duties without Obama's help?!?!?! The budget is THEIR job, not the President's.

If the the President does something without their "consultation", they bitch.

Then they bitch if he doesn't babby sit them! Wow, Just Wow!

[groundloop]

12. Exactly correct. He's a President, not a king.

[bvar22]

11. Uh-Oh..... BOHICA.

Obama is Reaching Out to Republicans again.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x797516

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[freshwest]

16. You got to admit, the GOP has done a great job with the brainwashing.

Wash

Rinse

Repeat

Lies to demoralize.

[oNobodyo]

14. the pros and cons of a shut down

a lot of social security checks won't get sent out...that's bad.
the numb nuts that think we don't need a government get to see what it's like without one...that's good.

what amazes me in this is not that the dems capitulate...because it's easier to cause government to do nothing than to do anything at all...it's that the republicans think that they can sell the idea that they didn't shut down the government when they've been preaching about drowning it in a bathtub for 30 years...

[Safetykitten]

15. WAAA?!!! OMG! They did not ask him to stay away? This is history making in our time!

[freshwest]

17. Remember when Bush sent notes announced by a trumpet during votes?

I thought I was going to pass out when I saw that on CSPAN.

[countmyvote4real]

18. What is Obama going to sell out now?

We know it won't be corporate interests. All that transparency and change BS is just that much more BS. I hate to say it, but the facts don't lie. Once upon a time, he might have been engaged in populism, but he has clearly been compromised. Is it really any wonder why his 2008 support left him when he left us?

Of course, the counter argument is that he was being "practical" with a majority of the House and the Senate. In hindsight we see how "practical" that turned out to be. We need to bring back Nancy Pelosi as SOTH. That can't happen until 2012, but so much damage has been done thanks to Obama's misguided compromises.

[Bluebear]

19. 'to broker a Republican-Democratic deal' - yay.

:silly:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Yep. We'll all be broker.

:silly:

[No Elephants]

21. LOL!

[Bluebear]

22. LOL!!