Posted on 10/31/2010 8:28:20 PM PDT by jazusamo
President Obama is ready to flex some muscle by using the veto pen if Republicans win back a majority in the House.
Democrats and White House aides said that Obama is prepared to wield his veto pen and effectively stare down Republicans should they have a successful Election Day.
“The president doesn't shrink from a fight,” one White House official said.
The president has not vetoed any legislation during his time in office with a Democratic majority, though he did pocket veto two bills with little fanfare.
He also has been emphasizing a spirit of cooperation. Obama has said repeatedly in interviews leading up to the election that he sees a number of areas of “common ground” on which he and Republicans can work together.
Some political observers believe the White House and GOP could find a few areas of agreement on certain policies, such as trade or education.
But already would-be leaders of a GOP House like Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have signaled that they will not compromise with Obama. House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has reassured conservatives that Republicans will not be in a mood to compromise, while in the Senate, GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said he will work to ensure Obama is a one-term president.
Larry Berman, an expert on the presidency and a political science professor at the University of California-Davis, said he expects Obama to use the veto to show Republicans that he is still in charge.
“He’s likely to adopt the Western Union approach to using the veto, that is, sending a message to the new political opposition that this president still has game,” Berman said.
One Democratic official said that the presidential power to block passed laws will give the president a great deal of power to showcase where he stands versus his Republican adversaries.
“The veto is the sharpest arrow that President Obama has yet to draw from his quiver," the official said. "When he uses it, he'll be able to draw the sharpest contrast yet between his priorities and the agenda of a Republican-led congress."
There are some signs that White House officials are reluctant to repeatedly veto legislation.
At a recent New York City fundraiser for Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), Vice President Biden warned Democrats that the last resort of a veto is a "bad thing" for the White House.
"If we lose in the House or the Senate, we’re now in a position where we are in a stalemate and this thing is just going to go in reverse and our most powerful weapon will be a veto pen, and that’s bad," Biden said.
It’s also possible that Obama will not get many chances to veto legislation.
If Democrats hold on to the Senate, Obama’s allies could bottle up legislation sent from a Republican House, if the GOP is successful in taking over that chamber. Even if the GOP wins control of both chambers, its Senate majority would be thin, making it difficult to attain the 60 votes necessary to win procedural motions.
Nothing will get done in Washington, which is what I’m expecting.
It means the end of Big Government activism for at least the next two years.
This administration does not get it or they don’t care. It’s one or the other.....
I hope the GOP has the cajones to put forward bill they know Obama will veto! It will make him look petty..vetoing common sense proposals that will cut taxes and help Americans....
Agreed...Zer0 wants Republicans to work with him but there’s no way he’ll work with them.
Message for the White House: Elections have consequences.
I suggest we start calling him “THE DO NOTHING PRESIDENT”.
B-HO vetoing tax cut bills will seal his fate in ‘12.
He’ll probably double his golf games.
No way. Republicans don’t have the votes to repeal Obamacare - but they can cut off funding for it. Let’s see what Barry is going to do about it.
Mr. President, I eagerly look forward to you vetoing bills that attempt to overturn the most unpopular items of your agenda. For example, what if the Republicans were to send you a bill that requires each member of the government to be subject to your healthcare law? Are you going to veto that one? What if they send you a bill fixing the AMT? Wha if they send you a bill eliminating the taxes from your healthcare law, i.e. counting insurance benefits as income. In short Mr. President, your agenda has left so much populist low hanging fruit that your veto would be well received.
Go ahead, xercise your veto and exercise your way right out of office. All the Chicago style politics in the world won’t win you the 2012 election.
His veto pen could veto his 2012 chances (if he has any left).
Say the Republicans take the Senate...51 seats or so. A repeal of Obamacare passes the now-Republican House, and heads to the Senate. The election was enough of a wave, and exit polling screams Obamacare is the reason. It scares the beejeezus out of 9 democrat Senators — who are up for reelection in 2012 — and they help pass the repeal.
It heads to Obama. It is him against everyone else who wants that abomination of a bill dead. I think a veto in this setting would once and for all kill his chances in 2012.
Betcha the RINO’s screw up the works. Betcha that’s why Pence said Nuts to it, and is going for Gov. Ind.
Let him veto. The more the merrier.
Pass good legislation and make sure the people know who is *obstructing* the return of their freedoms after he vetoes each and every bill.
Surely we can count on McCain, Graham and McConnell to do that.....can’t we?
I believe it’s a real possibility that some Dems could jump ship on him rather than go down with him in 2012.
But what will it gain Obama if he used the "sharpest arrows in his quiver" to veto tax cuts, spending cuts, repeal of Obamacare, a border security measure, etc.
If the Republican Congress keeps passing measures that have broad popular support, Obama will be slitting his own throat with every veto.
A GOP-controlled House -- which controls the purse strings of this country -- is the one that would be putting a veto on Obama.
I’m hoping we get enough conservatives elected to make the RINO’s think twice but it’s probably wishful thinking.
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