In Baltimore, Obama calls on GOP to put pragmatism above politics
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President Obama today told Republicans that it was time for the parties to work together to solve problems because the American people were weary of partisan bickering.
“I don’t believe the American people want us to focus on our job security, they want us to focus on their job security,” Obama said at an annual retreat the Republican lawmakers were holding in Baltimore.
It was an interesting political moment for the Democratic president, whose approval ratings have been falling, and for GOP leaders, civil, but determined to find a separate course in this midterm election year.
The GOP is hoping to loosen the Democrats’ hold on both houses of Congress.
‘I am not an ideologue,’ Obama told the lawmakers as he urged the Republicans to put pragmatism above party divisions.
At another point, he argued that many of his ideas on tax cuts, spending curbs and even some of the issues within the healthcare overhaul were things that Republicans had proposed or could support.
On healthcare, one House Republican and no GOP senator has voted to support either bill that passed. Democrats have been searching for a next step forward, now that Republicans have broken the super-majority in the Senate.
Obama was reaching out to the GOP in his answers to questions about the size of stimulus package, healthcare and budget discipline.
But he also noted that there are proposals he cannot accept and on which he will disagree with the GOP, including the need for sharp government action on the economy.
-- Michael Muskal
