wrote: My notes, for anyone who might be interested and did not see it.
Now it's West Virginia, coal and gas, and capping.
"We need a comprehensive energy policy...." "promoter of nuclear energy" ..."in favor of increased production."
He's for a lot of what they are for. "We have to plan for the future.' Advocating cleaner forms of energy [clean coal technology]. Electric cars: If we aren't leading, other countries will be leading. We can't operate the industries as though it is the 1930s. There must be a transition process, and it should be embraced by both parties.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz--Many complaints.
O: Hearings WERE on C-SPAN. Then, committees were working in different places at the same time.&nb sp;
No earmarks in the recovery act. Any earmarks should be transparent. Did not kick lobbyists whose terms were not complete off. A handful of waivers in the case of somebody uniquely qualified. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee. Criticizing Nancy Pelosi. This woman is tiresome. Barack is much too tolerant of this person. She's boring. She's a lousy salesperson, and all the Republicans clapped.
Barack says he got lots of their ideas and some have been embraced. Allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines. But they need to follow guidelines.
The ideas he wants are reducing premiums, covering everyone, making insurance more affordable to small businesses....
Look at the package. You can keep what you have. Some things snuck in that violated that. They are scrubbing it. There is an exchange with choice and competition for those who don't have insurance. Bob Dole, Howard Baker, and Tom Daschel proposed a package at the beginning of last year, and what we have is centrist, not a Bolshevik plot. It is similar to what Republicans proposed to Bill Clinton when he was trying to get healthcare passed. It's not a plot to expand the government. You have given yourselves very little leeway to be bipartisan because of what you have been telling your base.
Barack: "I'm having fun!"
Tom Price: Maintains that Democrats have said Republicans have no ideas and have offered nothing.
Barack would not debate this. The CBO looked at Republican ideas and advised. Republican ideas need to be confirmed by independent experts. It can't be all or nothing, one way or another. Be grateful for what you can support. It won't all go your way. Democracy works by majority.
Peter Rosckam, Illinois: Worked with Barack across the aisle in Illinois. Complaining ab out Pelosi. Are you willing to work with GOP on free trade issues?
O: We have to be careful what we say about each other so as not to box ourselves in. I will try to bring both sides together more frequently. Suspects there will be fissures on both sides.
Barack: South Korea a great ally. The European Union about to sign a trade agreement with S. Korea. Trade that opens both markets.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling [Tex]: The debt. Your admin proposed a budget that would triple the National Debt.
Barack is shaking his head no. The last question is an example of why it is hard to reach across the aisle. The 'question' was structured as a 'talking point.' Deficit 1.3 trillion when Barack came in. 8 trillion debt over the next decade. Unpaid for tax cuts. Two wars. Expensive drug plan. Democrat increase 1 trillion based upon the present job situation. Medicare/Medicaid are a massi ve problem down the road. Eventually will hold Medicare costs constant.
Q. Why not give people the kind of plan Congress has?
O: We were attacked across the board for "slashing Medicare." We won't agree all the time, but we need to have a serious conversation.
Jane Anne Jeffries JaneAnneJ@mac.com
http://www.care.com/tutor/janej15
--- On Fri, Jan 29, 2010, in msg269691, Bruce Schuman wrote ---
Anybody happened to see Obama with those GOP leaders today? It was on MSNBC -- I didn't see it all, but what I did catch was great.
He was up on stage taking questions -- and what comes to mind for me is
- He was brilliant -- and what I was getting looked and felt very honest and real.
- If we want to fix our politics -- if he wants to (and he does) -- he should do a lot of these. Democratic strategist Bob Schrumm said the same thing.
- As Luke Russert said following the event, Obama simply refuted the Republican talking points. I thought he did that very powerfully and persuasively. "Any independent fact-checker out there, take a look at this...."
Maybe because I didn't see it all, I was very encouraged. I was thinking -- you want to make American politics work -- keep doing this -- have an event like this every week.
But the issue probably revolves around Luke Russert's point. Unfortunately the issue for most politicians is not getting to the truth, or working together successfully -- it's scoring points in the home district.
Senator Jay Rockefeller, a leader on the health care issues, came on and said he actually found the experience very sad. Now -- I didn't see it that way -- but I respect him enough to believe he's got a point.
So -- all the more reason to heat up "the voice of the people".
Obama was brilliant, clear, straight-ahead, and very persuasive. That's the kind of Obama I voted for, and who I want to see in motion, putting the pieces together and making this country work right.
And wouldn't it be sweet -- if we could just do a little fire-side bi-partisan chat like this every week. Heal the nation, get us back on track, etc.
But -- is that going to happen? Senator Rockefeller and Luke Russert don't think so.
But as the polls clearly indicate -- the vast majority of American voters DO want a much higher degree of bi-partisan cooperation. Alex Witt made that very clear.
***
I heard about a book this morning, "Independent Nation". I gotta get that book.
http://www.independentnation.org/
This is where the power is, gang, big-time.
This is what we gotta heat up.
You love Obama -- or used to -- this is what we gotta do. Don't take sides and throw rocks. It just makes a mess and gridlocks the country. Pull people together and get them talking -- and do it in a way where they can be honest, instead of having to manipulate and spin everything as part of their political strategy.
Obama essentially said the same thing today. I hope I can get a transcript of his comments.
http://purplealliance.us
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USA.CAN
