From Politico...
Obama rumbles with House GOP

January 29, 2010 12:58 PM EST

BALTIMORE — President Barack Obama on Friday accused Republicans of
portraying health care reform as a "Bolshevik plot" and telling their
constituents that he’s "doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's going to
destroy America."

Speaking to House Republicans at their annual policy retreat here, Obama
said that over-the-top GOP attacks on him and his agenda have made it
virtually impossible for Republicans to address the nation’s problems in
a bipartisan way.

“What happens is that you guys don’t have a lot of room to negotiate
with me,” Obama said. "The fact of the matter is, many of you, if you
voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable
with your own base, with your own party because what you've been telling
your constituents is, ‘This guy's doing all kinds of crazy stuff that's
going to destroy America.' ''

Obama’s comments came in the midst of an extraordinary back-and-forth
with Republican House members – a scene straight out of the House of
Commons that played out live on cable TV.

Republicans invited Obama to appear at their annual conference; the
president accepted — and then surprised them by asking that cameras and
reporters be allowed into the room.

Republicans immediately agreed to the request, but they may be
regretting it now.

Again and again, Obama turned the Republicans questions against them –
accusing them of obstructing legislation for political purposes and
offering solutions that won’t work.

"I've read your legislation. I take a look at this stuff. And the good
ideas we take," Obama said. "It can't be all or nothing, one way or the
other … If we put together a stimulus package in which a third of it is
tax cuts that normally you guys would support, and support for states
and the unemployed and helping people stay on COBRA, that certainly your
governors would support … and maybe there are some things in there, with
respect to infrastructure, that you don't like … If there's uniform
opposition because the Republican caucus doesn't get 100 percent or 80
percent of what you want, then it's going to be difficult to get a deal
done, because that's not how democracy works."

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who introduced Obama to
his colleagues and gave the president a stack of Republican policy
proposals, said afterward that the event had been “a good first step in
having more of a dialogue.”

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said the event had helped his party by showing
that Republicans have offered alternatives to Obama’s plans.

"The real effort here was to convince people out there that we have
offered solutions, we've offered things,” Flake said. “For him to say,
‘Yes, I've read your proposal, it's a substantive proposal,’ that's
good. That's a huge thing for Republicans."

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) began Friday’s
question-and-answer session by asked Obama whether he’d embrace “across
the board” tax cuts as a way to revive the economy, and Rep. Paul Ryan
(R-Wis.) asked him to support a line-item veto to help achieve a
balanced budget.

Obama pushed back backed hard, accusing Republicans of putting party
before principle andvoting against his 2009 stimulus plan but then
attending “ribbon cuttings” for stimulus projects in their own districts.

If Republicans believe in both across-the-board tax cuts and a balanced
budget, Obama said he’d like to see their math.

The afternoon started on a more conciliatory tone, with Obama saying in
opening remarks hat he expects Republicans to challenge his ideas – and
that he understands that there are sometimes fundamental policy
differences between the parties.

"Having differences of opinion, having a real debate about matters of
domestic policy and national security, that's something that's not only
good for our country, it's absolutely essential,” he said.

But he also criticized the Republicans for reflexively opposing his
policies – even when, he said, they were in line with GOP principles.
And the encounter got progressively more raucous from there

Obama urged Republicans to come to the table and work with him on policy
compromises, saying Americans "didn't send us to Washington to fight
each other in some political steel cage match."

What voters don’t want, he said, is "for Washington to continue being so
Washington-like."

The president asked the Republicans to support his proposal to provide
small businesses with a $5000 tax credit for each new employee they add
— an idea Republicans panned before he even made the offer. He also
asked them to support his plan to freeze non-military discretionary
spending for three years.

"Join me," Obama asked. "Nothing in this proposal that runs contrary to
the ideological predisposition of this caucus."

"We have seen some party-line votes that have been disappointing," he
said, recalling the stimulus fight. "I didn't understand then, and I
still don't understand, why we got opposition in this caucus for almost
$300 billion in badly needed tax cuts for the American people" and other
assistance and infrastructure projects.

Obama jabbed: "Let's face it, some of you have been at the
ribbon-cuttings for some of these important projects in your communities."

Continuing on a confrontational tack, Obama defended key components of
his agenda, including the proposed fee on bailed-out banks – telling
Boehner: "If you listen to the American people, John, they’ll tell you
they want their money back."

At the end of his remarks – before taking questions – Obama told
Republicans it's time to make a choice between aiming for "success at
the polls" or "lasting success" for the country. "Just think about it
for a while," he said. "We don't have to put it up for a vote today."

Freshman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) went after the president harder,
accusing him of breaking promising about transparency, lobbyists and
partisanship.

“I can look you in the eye and tell you we have not been
obstructionists,” he said.

Obama acknowleged that Chaffetz had a “legitimate complaint” about not
putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN – as the president had vowed
they would be – but he also asked Obama what he was doing within his own
caucus to make sure that Republicans were working with him in bipartisan
way.

Mid-way through the questions and answers, Pence said that there would
be just a few more questions.

Obama said he wasn’t in any hurry to leave.

"I'm having fun,” Obama said. “This is great."

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) seemed to enjoy the experience a little less.

Price said he’s asked to meet with Obama ever week for a year but that
his question-and-answer round --- about health care proposals
Republicans have offered -- was the first time they’ve actually spoken.

“He didn't even address the question,” Price grumbled afterward. “He
distorted the premise and refused to even answer the question."

Price said Republicans had proven that they have ideas, that Obama has
received them, and that he wouldn’t answer their questions.

"I don't know that you could get any more out of that than we did,” he said.



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