Posted on 03/10/2013 1:56:47 AM PST by Libloather
President Obama warned Saturday that automatic spending cuts known as the sequester threaten to stifle the surge in job growth the nation saw in February.
Switching from the adversarial tone he has used to pressure Republican leaders in recent weeks, the president appealed to what he called the vision both parties share for the country.
“As Democrats and Republicans, we may disagree on the best way to achieve our goals, but I’m confident we can agree on what those goals should be,” Obama said in his weekly address.
He cited a vibrant middle class, an education system that gives more workers the skills to compete in the job market, a reformed immigration system and “safer streets for our children," a veiled reference to gun-violence reforms.
Obama acknowledged that progress on these issues “won’t be easy,” but sounded an optimistic tone.
“I still believe that compromise is possible. I still believe we can come together to do big things. And I know there are leaders on the other side who share that belief,” he said.
The president touted the February jobs report from the Labor Department showing the economy grew by 236,000 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent.
Wall Street analysts had predicted a job spurt between 150,000 and 160,000. In response, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 67 points on Friday to close at an all-time high.
Obama noted the unemployment rate is now lower than when he took office after businesses created 6.4 million jobs over the past three years.
But he warned partisan battles in Washington could disrupt the recovery:
“The last thing we should do is allow Washington politics to get in the way,” he said. “You deserve better than the same political gridlock and refusal to compromise that has too often passed for serious debate over the last few years.”
He touted his recent outreach to Republicans, including a dinner with a dozen senators at the Jefferson Hotel in downtown Washington on Wednesday.
He said the group discussed “smarter ways to grow our economy and reduce our deficits than the arbitrary cuts of the so-called ‘sequester’ that recently went into place.”
He said they also talked about potential common ground on immigration reform and gun-violence legislation.
Next week, he will meet with the Senate Democratic caucus on Tuesday, the House Republican conference on Wednesday and the Senate Republican conference and House Democratic caucus on Thursday.
Senate Republicans who have talked with the president in recent days say they expect him to convene other small gatherings to build bipartisan support for his agenda.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest on Friday declined to say when those more intimate meetings might take place or who might receive invitations.
He said the president would continue to engage with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
He said Wednesday’s dinner with rank-and-file members could be viewed “as an opportunity for the president to engage in a new line of communication and an open and constructive dialogue that could contribute to a solution.”
Indeed, Obama ended his address by emphasizing his willingness to find new allies.
“So I’ll keep fighting to solve the real challenges facing middle-class families. And I’ll enlist anyone who is willing to help. That’s what this country needs now – and that’s what you deserve,” he said.
He hates his own idea.
This guy gives a whole new meaning to “talking out your @ss”!
So, he’s blaming himself for this. Since he was responsible for the sequester?
He couldn’t find a way to pin it on Bush?
Obama can’t stand the fact that the world as we know it didn’t
end when the sequestration began.
Wait. Didn’t I hear the other day that the sequestration was Reagan’s idea? Can’t be Obama’s fault. Reagan did it.
“I’m confident we can agree on what those goals should be”
[[[shudder}}}
job surge, funny!
Compromise to a Dem, and especially Brokeback Obama, means "Give me what I want, when I want it, or no deal."
It has been well understood that implementing his socialized medicine is going to cost job and growth. It has also been clear that there is no recovery.
Now he has the sequester, which is easier to pretend he doesn't own than Obummercare.
Lincoln did it about a year after the end of the Civil War!
If Bush had said this the MSM would be screaming "LIAR!" from the rooftops and be calling for impeachment.
——He hates his own idea-——
I would argue he is setting up the preemptive criticism of the books fixing.
If you tinker with the books to get your bankers approval or perhaps to get reelected, at some point you must come clean. You must readjust the values back toward reality. That can be painful.
Obama is saying the sequester is to blame for the coming readjustment of inflation to 4%, the unemployment rate to 8.5% and GDP growth to .7%. In February the reelection tinkering will be fixed. The sequester will be at fault.
Obama was betting on the come. It didn’t come....... but the sequester will do just as well.
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