Obama, Boehner draw battle lines for coming year

President Obama used his weekly address to highlight executive actions he is taking to propel the economy in the face of opposition from “do-nothing” congressional Republicans.

The GOP is taking a similarly unilateral approach to legislating, closing the House Republicans’ three-day retreat in Baltimore with an agenda that promises aggressive oversight of the Obama administration that can be achieved without support from the Democratic-led Senate.

The dueling pursuits are making it clear that 2012 will be a year during which the message wars of the campaign season will probably overtake efforts at bipartisan policymaking.

“As I’ve said before, I will continue to work with Congress, states, and leaders in the private sector to find ways to move this country forward,” Obama said in his weekly address (see video below).

“But where they can’t act or won’t act, I will,” the president said. “Too often over the last few months, we’ve seen Congress drag its feet and refuse to take steps we know will help strengthen our economy.”

Obama noted his recent visit to Disney World in Florida to showcase administrative efforts to make it easier for tourists to visit this country, as well as his earlier action to appoint the new chief of the consumer protection bureau over GOP objections.

House Speaker John A. Boehner rolled out a similar go-it-alone strategy for his GOP-led House, which is resisting the “do-nothing” label with a series of oversight investigations of the administration.

“Democrats are going to say our increased oversight is about harassing Barack Obama,” Boehner said in closing remarks, according to someone familiar with the talk who was granted anonymity to discuss the private session.

“No. Our stepped-up oversight is about saving small businesses from Barack Obama’s policies, which have made our economy worse.”

Boehner is seeking to put his often fractured majority on firmer ground by concentrating efforts on GOP gains in the fall election -- rather than the legislative skirmishes within the Republicans’ own ranks that led to criticism last year.

“This is a battle we know how to win,” he told them.

House GOP leaders have concluded that toppling Obama and securing GOP seats in Congress can provide a more unifying force for their rank-and-file than purely legislative pursuits that have divided them.