Obama visit to Chamber of Commerce could mark thaw with business leaders

[The Northerner]

The White House's campaign to rebuild ties with corporate America gets the ultimate photo opportunity on Monday when President Obama crosses Lafayette Park and steps into the imposing headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The gesture may surprise Americans who recall that Obama, just four months ago, said the group may have used foreign money to air ads attacking Democrats, or that a senior aide called the Chamber's political tactics a "threat to our democracy."

And the applause certain to fill the ornate Hall of Flags inside the Chamber building might seem jarring given the tens of millions of dollars the group spent to fight Obama's signature health-care overhaul and deliver the House majority to the Republicans.

Both sides are eager to show a new era of warm feelings, with the Chamber in need of bipartisan bona fides and Obama seeking credibility with centrist voters and corporate donors as he ramps up his reelection campaign.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/05/AR2011020503560.html

[The Wielding Truth]

1. He does too much dealing with the devil for me.

[grasswire]

2. I don't understand this at all.

Can someone explain? Interpret?

[rpannier]

4. Money

That's my guess

[DJ13]

6. ......

[msongs]

3. go where the getting is good. he's gonna need a job out of office some day nt

[Bluebear]

5. Oh good, as long as it thaws relations with the business leaders.

:crazy:

[obxhead]

7. This American is not surprised in the least. nt

[burrowowl]

8. I wonder

about Obama!

[grahamhgreen]

9. "could mark end of all American jobs."

[enlightenment]

10. Given that the 'thaw' thus far has us all furiously

treading water, if it 'thaws' anymore we're all going to drown.

I hope he gets plenty of money from those corporate donors, because all those $5.00 donations he got before are now being used to pay for groceries - and given that, the money may not be available to pay the bus fare to get the voters to the polling place come 2012.

[upi402]

11. They wouldn't waste their time on the bus now

My stepson and buds think he's useless just like the rest. Maybe they are right in not giving a shit, and I've wasted much of my life bonking my head against the wall. I will push for an alternative.

[Newest Reality]

12. How much more will business,

(big corporations) take over? Obviously, they want it all, not just most of it, now.

We can wave it all bye-bye! What happens when government capitulates to corporations and they essentially become one? ;)

[Raine]

13. "Thaw"????????

:wtf: It would be almost funny if it wasn't so idiotic and infuriating! :mad:
We're the one's he's frozen out, I wish he would thaw toward us. :argh:

[Bluebear]

17. +

[Hannah Bell]

22. +100. the media jumped the shark a long time ago.

[JVS]

30. "It would be almost funny if it wasn't so idiotic and infuriating!"

That is an assessment that applies to SOOOOOOOOO many aspects of life and to life itself.

[Disintermedia8]

14. The REAL story here is not about the President

I think anyone with two functioning brain cells to rub together knows all t need to about him. Np, the real story is how the subservient press commits itself to pushing the same line of BS that Obama has been against big business. The bailouts, the Insurance sector profitability protection act, the continued millions going to Blackwater and KBR, etc, BP, are all examples of what exactly?

[SpiralHawk]

20. +1

good point

[girl gone mad]

15. You can protest this meeting today..

http://warisacrime.org/content/protest-president-obamas-special-walk-and-visit-us-chamber-commerce


Protest of President Obama's Special Walk and Visit to U.S. Chamber of Commerce

When: Meet at 11 am, Monday, February 7, 2011
Where: H Street side of Lafayette Park, H and 16th ST NW, Washington, DC
Why: Join the nurses of National Nurses United/California Nurses Association and other friends of labor as we protest that President Obama is not walking to the house of labor two blocks from the White House but to the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters that has fought against the interests of workers and their families. He will speak to those assembled in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building while workers outside ask him to protect our Social Security, fight for Medicare for all and build an economy that protects the people whose labor has built and defended this nation. Bring signs in support of protecting Social Security, advancing Medicare for all, growing economic security and making spending priorities reflect the needs of the people.

[eridani]

16. Wonderful.. They'll repay him by donating most of their money to his opponent in 2012

And even more to defeat other Democrats.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

18. This would almost be funny if it wasn't another blatant attack against average Americans.

Every freaking time that I think that President Obama has reached his nadir, he finds another way to piss off anyone who is still hoping for that "change" we were promised.

What a great way to start the week. :banghead:

Edit: Sorry Raine, I didn't even notice that I plagarized your line. I'm not quite awake yet.

[Le Taz Hot]

19. What the hell do business leaders

have to be chilly about? He's been doing their bidding for the last 2 years.

[Kablooie]

21. He may be using the 'hold your enemies closer' strategy, you know.

[Kolesar]

24. *That* was the most sensible post on this thread...eom

[stillwaiting]

26. He continues to surround himself with our "enemies".

He has done so since the beginning of his Administration when filling Cabinet positions.

Not coincidentally, major policy decisions have been more heavily geared towards satisfying our corporate "benefactors" and not those who were hoping for a "change".

[blindpig]

27. So, the tail wags the dog?

You seem to misunderstand the power relationship.

[Raine]

31. except the other part of that is to hold your friends close & he doesn't hold the friends

even the least bit close, actually seems to push them away just about totally. :-(
edit: typo

[pnorman]

23. To me, Obama is still the same Harvard Law School graduate who chose a community organizing job

in Chicago, over a lucrative legal position in a prestigious law firm.

Time after time, he's shown an uncanny ability to come in with a weak hand, and eat the lunch of all the Big Kidz. I don't think this will be any different.

[Brickbat]

25. THAW? For crying out loud.

Hey, how's that EFCA going? Anyone? Anyone?

[madrchsod]

29. silence.....

that`s never ever going to happen. shit they just threw the nurses under the bus...

[madrchsod]

28. he`s already counting the cash they`ll be sending in 2012

he`s a perfect candidate for the corporations...intelligent,well spoken,and has given them pretty much everything they have asked for.

he`s a liberal/moderate republican.