“Surrounded by police officers, firefighters, teachers, construction workers and others he said would be helped by the $447 billion package,” Erika Werner writes, “the president said the only thing that would block its passage would be lawmakers deciding it wasn’t good politics to work with him. ‘We can’t afford these same political games, not now,’ Obama said.”
The Democrat casts his opposition as seeking to score political points rather than stand on principle.
Ms. Werner also reported that the Democratic chief executive “proposed paying for his costly new jobs plan Monday with tax hikes that Republicans have already emphatically rejected.” He declared that “Congress needs to pass” his bill:
“No games. No politics. No delays.” He sent it to Capitol Hill saying, “The only thing that’s stopping it is politics.”
Can you imagine how the media would have reacted if the immediate past President of the United States had issued a similar statement about legislation containing provisions his opposition had already “emphatically rejected”?
It is not the president’s job to dictate to Congress how to legislate. A post-partisan politician would understand that his ideological adversaries often have sound reasons for opposing legislation he advocates, particularly when said legislation increases federal spending — and the federal budget is severely out of balance.
UPDATE: Jim Geraghty, quoting an Obama advisor, shows us just how intransigent this White House is:
On “Good Morning America” this morning, Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod declared that Obama’s jobs plan must be passed in its entirety; no provisions may be rejected or excepted.
The blogger concludes with the quip, “But remember, in the MSM narrative, it’s the Republicans who are being stubborn and inflexible.”
