President Barack Obama met today in a private meeting with Democrats and Republicans to discuss the economic stimulus package and planned tax increases on the rich. After a debate over tax policy, President Obama announced that his plan would triumph because as he puts it, "I won."
President Obama as well as Harry Reid gave the impression after the meeting that in fact both parties were closer on the issue than the public realizes. (Now, that 's a scary thought.) Obama told participants that it was time to rise above typical partisan differences and warned of the dangers if the White House and Congress don't work together.
According to Fox News Major Garrett, President Obama also showed concern about how failure to pass his stimulus bill may impact future Congressional races and even his own re-election possibilities.
"We're all political animals, we've all got political bases," the president is reported to have said. "If we don't get this done we (the Democrats) could lose seats and I could lose re-election. But we can't let people like Rush Limbaugh stall this. That's how things don't get done in this town."
If there was any doubt that the decisions President Obama is making are politically motivated, this is proof-positive he will be a poll-driven President. It took the President four days in office to mention concern for his own re-election. In the same breath, he informs Republicans to no longer follow the advice of talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh.
The most concerning information for conservatives that has come from this meeting is the fact that Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, stated that the package should pass by mid-February. With his statement, McConnell signaled that Republicans will not seek a filibuster to block the bill guaranteeing that they will cave to the President's plans.
The campaign for 2012 has begun. Democrats 1 Republicans 0.
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