Now it's time to get back that "I won" attitude you had a few days ago.

Every single economic indicator is screaming that the GOP way has failed, and yet they keep insisting we continue to operate as if it was a overwhelming success. What was that definition of insanity again?

Wonder who's hand is really going to get slapped here? Rumor is that inside Obama's velvet glove there is a steel fist.

Duck, Boehner, duck.

as their chance to get rid of that pesky middle class once and for all.

I loved this line:

"I understand that and I will watch you on Fox News and feel bad about myself."

What a humorous way to both acknowledge and belittle the politics involved.

small.

"There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that."

This is how a president should speak about his opposition party. I thought this level of civility was all but gone judging from the dark ages of the last 8 years.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

that Obama dropped the 200 mil for low income family planning. I thought that was very smart. Maybe he'll be able to push a similiar measure through somwhere else.

...and predictably, they have continued to insist on stale Republican boilerplate.

It is now time to run roughshod all over them. Obama must steamroll them. He doesn't need them. Shove them further toward the margins. I want to see the Republican Party completely reduced to the a$$-end of a joke, for the rest of my life and hopefully beyond.

but I suspect he is playing this just right. It looks like he is legitimately trying to negotiate, while sticking to his core principles, while the republicans are blocking all progress. If that really is how things look to the general public, then the republicans are going to get hammered... I just wonder how long it will take for them to realize the damage they are taking.

Meanwhile, by staying consistent with his word, and his beliefs, he takes away one of the big talking points the right wing media use to assail the democrats... that they have no moral principles to stand on and will compromise anything if it's in their best interest.

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple weeks.

Are the Republicans still willing to take the fall for the plummeting economy?

By meeting with them so conspicuously, the President keeps the losing team right in the public eye where we can all watch them fiddle around while Rome burns. They have learned nothing from the election losses of their former colleagues and the over-all diminished status of their party. If the Republicans continue to obstruct a recovery, the wealthy business elite who fund them will sink with the rest of us.

It is wise of our new President to hold these misguided boobs in plain view, until it is clear to all that they are not statesmen, and have no regard for the greater good if acting for the public betterment diminishes their perception of their own power. The Republicans' only remaining power, in fact, lies with the well-meaning President's attempts to include them in the process. Once the President realizes these guys don't want to play ball, he'll acknowledge their irrelevance, and get things done without them.

That, and he infuses some backbone into the Democrats. Hearts in the right place, but spine oddly lacking.

Obama needs to say this:

We don't need your votes to pass this thing. So you've got two options here. Get behind the concessions I've offered you, or I'm pulling the bill entirely, rewriting it, and passing it without your help or input.

Your move, Boehner.

is how strong GOP leadership still is in congress. Will the rank-and-file follow orders, and risk losing their seats in 2010? I'm pretty sure the insecure, unemployed, under-insured, and overworked/underpaid will not look kindly on the congressperson who voted against the best hope for staving off a second Great Depression.

The Republicans are abusing his every offer to listen to them. Obama has lost every encounter because he thought he could negotiate. Better than Obama learn these lessons now than keep trying.

is the appearance of it. Mission accomplished on that one, Mr. President.

Now it's time to ram a sensible stimulus bill down their throats. 'Cause even if it were 99% tax cuts, and the economy still tanked, you'd get the blame anyway.

There is a lot of money available in this bill for the districts and states of willing legislators. No matter what the Republican leadership say, some of the republican flock will not be able to resist (just as democrats caved when they were in the minority). Watch Obama play this out. He may be about to show the Republican leadership just how much power they have lost, even over their own.

Tax cuts - why do rethugs think this is the end all and be all of economics? Why do they continue to believe that corporations (I'm not saying small business) have any interest whatsoever in "creating" jobs? Where is the evidence that giving a corporation tax cuts results in more jobs or higher wages (for anyone but the top echelon)?

I work for a company that has received tax cuts throughout the years of Bush's regime. This company even had special legislation passed for it so it couldn't be sued for helping the government spy on its customers. This company has never been interested in "creating" jobs. They have been interested in cutting the number of employees and having the ones left work harder and longer for less. This company is getting ready to lay-off 12K people this year (those are the preliminary figures - who knows what the end number will really be?). The first round of lay-offs starts this week. This company is instituting a "wage freeze" this year for the employees that are left. This company raised the cost of employee health care this year with higher deductibles, co-pays, and the employee-paid portion of the insurance premium. "Your world . . . fucked up."

Tell me again how giving them more tax cuts will save those jobs that are being shit-canned, nevermind "creating" new ones.