JMHO Loc: Utah

No love lost between Obama and his party on Capitol Hill.

Just last week the White House boasted that President Obama is setting the agenda despite Republican control of the House and Senate. He’s in a stronger position now than before the midterm e******ns in November. “The White House is declaring victory over Washington,” according to Politico.

The euphoria didn’t last long. It was snuffed out when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reelected in Israel in the face of a strenuous effort by the White House to sideline him. Obama responded not by congratulating Netanyahu, even grudgingly, but by criticizing his campaign and announcing that the administration’s policy toward Israel would be reevaluated.

That isn’t all. On Capitol Hill, support by Democrats for the president’s agenda is eroding. His request for authorization to use military force against ISIS terrorists is widely opposed by Democrats. His appeal for “fast track” authority to facilitate passage of the T***s-Pacific Partnership, a trade treaty, has attracted little support. Neither bill is likely to win congressional approval.

Obama’s aides insist Republicans are merely reacting to the president’s initiatives. They are, but not favorably. The bigger problem for Obama is himself. He is the cause of most of the trouble besetting his presidency. The return of Senate minority leader Harry Reid from an accident has made matters worse.

The impact on the Democratic party is anything but positive. Democrats are excited only to the extent they can thwart Republicans, as they did in blocking the GOP attempt to strip funding for Obama’s executive order on immigration from the Department of Homeland Security budget. The Democrats may have a bright future over the long run, but the 22 months left in Obama’s second term will be painful.

From the Netanyahu episode, we learned that Obama is not a gracious man, even when being gracious would serve his interest. He was furious over the invitation from House speaker John Boehner to address Congress. The president’s approval had not been sought.

The White House mounted a heavy-handed campaign to force Netanyahu to cancel his appearance. A boycott of the speech was encouraged. Democrats lobbied for the event to be moved to a more modest setting than the House chamber. The Congressional Black Caucus was recruited to denounce the invitation to Netanyahu as disrespectful to the president. Boehner gave Netanyahu the opportunity to back out if it was necessary for political reasons in Israel with its e******n on March 17. But Netanyahu refused. He spoke on March 3.

Obama elevated the speech, which focused on Iran’s nuclear threat, into an international event. Netanyahu is Obama’s least favorite foreign leader, and nasty leaks about him trickled out of the administration. It wasn’t surprising he declined to meet with Netanyahu at the White House.

But what if the president had welcomed Netanyahu to Washington, met with him in front of TV cameras, and talked about their mutual goal of preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons while conceding they have differences over a nuclear deal with Iran? That would have taken much of the drama and some of the significance out of Netanyahu’s appearance.

Instead, Obama reacted peevishly to the speech. He said it contained nothing new. When Netanyahu won ree******n last week, the White House complained about what it said was Netanyahu’s “rhetoric that seeks to marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens.” In t***h, Netanyahu had simply warned that Arab v**ers were v****g in large numbers against him, hoping to stir casual v**ers sympathetic to him to go to the polls.

Boehner was vindicated by Netanyahu’s ree******n. It was the first time the “Obama machine” had been defeated in a national e******n, a Republican official noted. Boehner weathered attacks, including MoveOn.org’s demand that he be prosecuted under the Logan Act for illegally interfering in foreign affairs.

For a president supposedly in charge, Obama is MIA in Congress. Winning fast track authority is crucial, but there’s no evidence he’s lifted a finger on its behalf. Without it, a trade bill can be subjected to poison pill amendments designed to k**l it.

Meanwhile, Boehner and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi are working on a permanent fix on the issue of Medicare fees for doctors that shrink annually with congressional action. Again, Obama is not in the picture in this rare instance of bipartisanship.

The Senate experienced a three-week interlude of bipartisanship in January while Reid was recovering at his home in Washington’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. When he returned, smooth and friendly relations ceased. Reid invoked a 60-v**e requirement just to have a v**e on overriding Obama’s veto of the Keystone XL pipeline bill. This was unprecedented on a veto override.

Reid reached a new low by organizing a filibuster of legislation outlawing human trafficking. Democrats said a provision barring federal funds from paying for a******ns had been slipped into the bill and must be taken out. The provision was no secret. It was on page four of the legislation and renewed a federal law in effect for the past 39 years.

The bill had bipartisan support and was reported out of the judiciary committee unanimously. It was non-controversial—that is, before Reid stepped in. In response, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said he will delay a confirmation v**e on Loretta Lynch for attorney general until Reid calls off the filibuster.

You can see where this is headed. Reid is engineering a stalemate in which bipartisanship is out the window and passage of a popular bill is thwarted. This is part of Reid’s strategy of showing that Republicans—and McConnell in particular—can’t govern effectively.

Republican disarray “has contributed to this dynamic of the White House being the one—and the only one—that’s on offense,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest told Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico. Surely he jests.

Fred Barnes

3jack

" Reid is engineering a stalemate in which bipartisanship is out the window and passage of a popular bill is thwarted."

Bipartisanship went out the window when Obama was elected and the group on GOP leaders met and vowed not to be bipartisan with the Democrats.

JMHO Loc: Utah

Typical moronic bulls**t libtard answer...yawn...ho hum...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

robmull Loc: florida

Now that our American infidel "liberalism" has merged with the MB and CPUSA, JMHO, and video and audio taping seems to have caught-on swimmingly, and quite conservatively slipped-by [their] daily morning talking-point consciousness, perhaps the Marxist/Alinsky, OWS "movement" propelling this administration is not quite as popular as during [their] "hope and change" illusion; and "sinking like-a-stone," rather misses the larger point of the panic that is being generated throughout "liberalistic," modern-day vogue. Hummmmm.

the waker Loc: 11th freest nation

Has anything this administration done over the last 6 yes been bipartisan?
All I ve seen is "my way, or the highway"from this admistration.
Can you name even one bipartisan bill that was purposed?

3jack

Everything you disagree with is "moronic bulls**t" but you never seem to have the answers when facts are presented to you, so you resort to name calling and ignorant retorts.

Your one dimensional view of this country and the President is representative of short sighted, shallow individuals who are eaten up with h**e, are permanently discontent because things didn't go their way, and are resigned to be forever miserable. It gives me great pleasure in seeing you wallow in your misery, knowing that you can't do a damn thing to correct the situation. You, being devoid of the ability to express yourself in a coherent manner, are relegated to copying and pasting stupid assed articles that represent your political sentiments. The bottom line you are too damn dumb to intelligently express your self in writing because you are incapable of critical thinking....get a life, pal.

3jack

What you've seen is not "my way or the highway" but resistance to the right wing trying to shove their ideology down the throats of the country. It seems that your idea of being bipartisan is to give in to the stupid assed attempts to repeal Obamacare, eliminate the EPA, deregulate the banking industry, eliminate Social Security, give more tax breaks to the wealthy, destroy the middle class and organized labor, and deport ALL Mexicans. Even with a GOP majority in congress, and with a Democrat in the White House, it's not going to happen.

JMHO Loc: Utah

It's just the opposite jerk off, the Democrats and Obama trying to shove socialism down our throats for the past 6 years...wake up.

the waker Loc: 11th freest nation

:thumbdown:

H**e to break it to ya but that ideology was already here, its this destructive liberal ( not even democrat ) ideology that is being rammed down peoples throats w/ a "pen and a phone".
How soon we forget these statements by our unilateral leader.
#1Obama Care is nothing but a control agenda, that has hurt more than its helped, and continued the escalation of debt this country is facing
#2 the EPA regulations have gotten way out of control.
#3 Which leaders are offering all of these tax breaks? And who will benefit the most?
#4 Clinton deregulated the banking industry by repealing the Glass-Seagal Act
#5 Who's administration has the most shrinkage of middle class? More and more contractors have gotten away from the unions due to this administration then previous, seems not everyone wants to pay people, that lead from behind.
#6 Clinton was the one that took money from social security and dumped Treasury bonds in its place(wonder how they're doing) to balance the budget.

#7 There were no suggestions of deportation before the recent influx crisis created by your benevolent leader.
Also, nobody wants to "deport ALL Mexicans" as you had before hand mentioned, just the South Americans that came here illegally, that did not follow proper proceedure to gain citizenship.

As for your lame duck i***t in the white house, people aren't lapping up his BS anymore last November should have taught you that.
Worst part is I care for the right about as much as your left, the only diffence is they're not constantly limiting and attacking my rights by slipping laws nobody understands the ramifications of, or w/ back door UN treaties that no one w/ any sense would support!

3jack

1. Obamacare provides health care to over 11 million people who didn't have it before. The cost is secondary as long as lives are saved.

2. Such a broad statement with nothing to back it up.

3. The GOP leaders, particularly Ryan, has introduced budgets that favor the rich and takes from the needy.

4. Clinton did not have the power to deregulate or repeal anything. Total BS.

5. Most shrinkage of the middle class occurred under Bush. It's now trying to rebound under Obama.

6. Another lie about Clinton. This never happened.

7. The right has been screaming about deporting Mexicans for 50 years. It did not just start with the influx or kids from South America. Funny how you righties only concern yourselves about Mexicans when there just as many Asian and European immigrants.

The President doesn't write laws, but he has the authority to determine the extent of enforcement of those laws....comes with the position. The "lame duck i***t" in the White House will be there until he is duly relieved on 1/20/17......until then, live with it because you sure as hell can't do anything about it.

JMHO Loc: Utah

Total left wing bulls**t!

the waker Loc: 11th freest nation

the waker Loc: 11th freest nation

You don't know any better, so it didn't happen, nice!

3jack

??????

robmull Loc: florida

You can't compromise with the devil, comrade, and the Alinskyites in office are working off the blueprints of "Rules for Radicals," [dedicated to the first radical, SATAN]. If there had been a bipartisan unity in Congress, "WE" would look more like Venezuela than America!!! Although NOW "WE" are starting to look more like the Middle East and Western Europe.