U.S. President Barack Obama, left, talks to Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from... Read More
The president told reporters in Washington that yesterday’s election sent a message that voters want him and lawmakers to “get stuff done.” While pledging to find areas of agreement with Republicans, Obama said he wants to see their agenda and warned that neither side will get all it wants.
Republicans began to outline an agenda that includes items Obama will reject, such as the repeal of the president’s health-care law. House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, joined McConnell in writing an opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal’s Web page tonight, saying they’ll
focus on jobs and the economy and revive legislation that Democrats prevented from reaching the president’s desk. They said Obamacare is “hurting the job market.”
McConnell, in line to become Senate majority leader in January, told reporters in Louisville, Kentucky, that he’ll try to end gridlock. Promising there will be “no government shutdowns and no default on the national debt,” McConnell said he and Obama spoke about working on areas where they can agree.
“I said send us trade agreements. We’re anxious to take a look at them,” the senator said. “We’ll see whether we can work with the president. We hope so.”
Voter Anger
Capitalizing on voter anger over Obama’s handling of the economy and other issues, Republicans yesterday won at least seven U.S. Senate seats that had been controlled by Democrats, giving them 52 votes in the 100-member chamber, and widened their majority in the House.Obama said the result showed that Americans are tired of the legislative impasse of recent years. He said he would press ahead with his own agenda on immigration and the economy.
“Congress will pass some bills I cannot sign,” Obama said at a White House news conference. “I’m pretty sure I will take some actions some in Congress will not like. That’s natural.”
The president also said he will seek “lawful” executive actions before January on immigration, an issue on which he and most Republicans strongly disagree.
“Before the end of the year, we’re going to take whatever lawful actions I can take that I believe will improve the functioning of the immigration system,” Obama said. His statement sets the stage for his first showdown with the more powerful Republican representation in Congress.
Acting Unilaterally
McConnell warned Obama not to act unilaterally to change immigration policies. “It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull,” he said.Still, McConnell, 72, and the president, 53, signaled some optimism for bipartisanship after four years in which Obama and his Republican adversaries clashed on almost every issue.
“I do think there are going to be areas where we do agree, on infrastructure, on making sure that we’re boosting American exports,” Obama said at the White House today. “And part of my task then is to reach out to Republicans, make sure that I’m listening to them.”
Pipeline Approval
The agenda described by McConnell and Boehner includes approval of TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline from Canada and addressing “the insanely complex tax code that is driving American jobs overseas.” They described Obamacare as “hopelessly flawed” and said they wanted to deal with an educational system that “denies choice to parents” and “excessive regulations and frivolous lawsuits.”“We will honor the voters’ trust by focusing, first, on jobs and the economy,” they wrote. “Among other things, that means a renewed effort to debate and vote on the many bills that passed the Republican-led House in recent years with bipartisan support, but were never even brought to a vote by the Democratic Senate majority.”
On areas where Republicans and Obama disagree, McConnell said the Senate will use its power over federal spending to reduce government regulation and that it will use “a variety of different ways” to try to cut back parts of Obama’s health-care law.
Financial Law
The Senate Banking Committee also will consider revisions in the Dodd-Frank law enacted after the 2008 financial crisis, which he termed “Obamacare for banks.”The president has invited congressional leaders from both parties to a White House meeting on Nov. 7, in part to discuss items he wants to finish before the new Congress takes office in January. Among them is $6.2 billion in funds to stem the spread of Ebola and an authorization for using military force against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
Obama wants the ability to negotiate trade deals, including the proposed 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership, and get up-or-down votes in Congress, without amendments. That’s an issue that divides Democrats, who are reluctant to give the president authority to negotiate accords that might disadvantage some U.S. workers.
Companies such as Oracle Corp. (ORCL), Kraft Foods (KRFT) Group Inc. (GS) and Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) are part of a group pushing for the Pacific agreement.
The path to a deal on taxes is tougher because policy makers disagree on the basic parameters, even before they get to the details of which tax breaks to keep.
Business Taxes
Obama wants to focus on the business tax code, reducing the corporate rate and using one-time revenue to pay for spending on infrastructure. He wants to increase taxes on high-income individuals, and Democrats are reluctant to reduce the 39.6 percent top marginal rate on individuals.Republicans have focused on tying individual and business-tax changes together and oppose using a revamp of the tax code to raise revenue.
On other issues, including energy policy and the minimum wage, the gap between the parties is wide.
While McConnell and Obama said there will be confrontations, the president said he thinks he and the Republican leader can have a productive relationship.
“He has always been very straightforward with me,” Obama said. “To his credit, he has never made a promise that he couldn’t deliver.”
McConnell called Obama the key figure in any potential bipartisan deals because of his ability to veto legislation and to persuade Democratic lawmakers to back him.
“There’s only one Democrat who counts -- the president,” McConnell said. “He’s a player. That’s the way our system works.”
No comments:
Post a Comment