Obama axes GOP in new budget push
By Walter Alarkon
Posted: 03/17/09 08:16 PM
President Obama ditched his bipartisan budget sales pitch Tuesday and went on the offense against his Republican critics.
The move comes after the president felt substantial pushback from lawmakers in both parties who sharply attacked key elements in his $3.55 trillion proposal.
Sensing the lack of support, Obama has changed strategies and challenged members of Congress who have blasted his plan to come up with “constructive alternative solutions.” While the president said that he and Democrats are committed to a budget resolution that will put the nation on a path to prosperity, he decried opponents who have turned to “political tactics” and “point scoring” instead of “problem solving.”
“ ‘Just say no’ is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs; it is not an acceptable response to what our economic policies propose by the other party,” said Obama at the White House while standing beside the Democratic chairmen of the House and Senate Budget committees, Rep. John Spratt (S.C.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.).
Obama appears to be shifting tactics from the way he and his administration handled negotiations on Capitol Hill over the $787 billion stimulus package. Many Democrats had criticized the president for placing too much emphasis on winning over Republican votes — an effort that netted only three GOP lawmakers.
This time around, Obama appears to be employing a more partisan strategy.
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