Speaker Boehner has a suggestion. How about working with Republicans to help solve the problems facing leaders in Washington? That would be refreshing. A new Infographic from the Speaker’s office poses a simple question: with all other roads leading nowhere, will President Obama finally work with Republicans to find common ground on removing barriers to job growth?
The president who demands that Congress get about their work and stop with the politics of division should heed his own instructions. Why would the Republicans be eager to work with President Obama when he continues to do nothing more than criticize them and make them the whipping boys/girls for his failures in office?
As Speaker Boehner notes:
After President Obama addressed a Joint Session of Congress, Republican leaders issued a memo outlining possible areas of common ground, including extension of 100 percent bonus depreciation, small business capital formation, and payroll tax relief.
The president, however, demanded an “all or nothing” vote and vowed to take his plan to “every corner of the country.” The reception has been chilly. Economists and fiscal watchdogs have balked at the plan. An estimated 750,000 small businesses are threatened by the proposed tax hikes, and the Arizona Republic talked with small business owners who are “wary” and “skeptical” about the president’s latest proposal, fearing it could be little more than “another stimulus plan.” Fox News reported that “a majority of Americans don’t believe” his “plan will help lower the unemployment rate…” And the president has been greeted by tough front pages in city after city.
When the president demanded Congress “pass this bill” now, Democratic leaders in the Senate blocked a vote on it (just minutes before he railed against Republicans for standing in the way). And if there’s one thing the Senate does well, it’s stall jobs bills; swapping in different tax hikes won’t help.
So it’s back to the House. The House is focused on the people’s priorities, and none rank higher than removing government barriers to job creation. If the president is serious, he’ll work with Republicans on areas of common ground. If not, then perhaps this jobs bill really is “a political weapon rather than as a means of fixing the nation's economic woes and putting Americans back to work.”
Speaker Boehner says,"we're legislating, he's campaigning". It is past time for President Obama to step up and start leading by working with all members of Congress, not just his base.
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