Obama vows to work with Republicans over next two years
Obama vows to work with Republicans over next two years.
By: bestniggass
Go here to read the rest:
Obama vows to work with Republicans over next two years - Video
Poll Position: Republicans by a Mile!
The race is finally over! John Phillips sees who comes out on top in this weeks Poll Position.
By: PJ Media
Excerpt from:
Poll Position: Republicans by a Mile! - Video
By Stephen Collinson, CNN
updated 7:01 AM EST, Sun November 2, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- Republicans are spending the final weekend of campaigning before Tuesday's election sizing up the possibility of their first Senate majority in nearly a decade, but with key races still too close to call.
Latest polls show some critical Senate races tightening, guaranteeing a night of drama and suspense on Tuesday, as Republicans strive for a net gain of six seats to capture the chamber. A GOP victory would give the party complete control on Capitol Hill and the ability to constrain President Barack Obama's final two years in office.
But the best the GOP can hope for is a slim majority, which would do little to end the era of gridlock and partisan division that has stifled Washington for years and contributed to an ugly public mood ahead of the election.
READ: How Mitch McConnell would run the Senate
Even if they win on Tuesday, there is no scenario in which Republicans will gain enough senators to build a 60 seat super-majority that is needed to move major legislation in a deeply partisan Congress.
Some races are so tight that turnout will be crucial. In Iowa, a CNN/ORC International poll had Republican Joni Ernst up by two points as she tries to grab a Senate seat held by the retiring Tom Harkin for nearly 30 years.
In North Carolina, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is clinging to a two-point margin in a state that leans Republican in another CNN survey.
Go here to read the rest:
Republicans eye slim Senate majority - CNN.com
Top Republicans will meet with President Barack Obama today after warning him that changing U.S. immigration policy without involving Congress would invite big trouble and make a future compromise impossible.
Obama invited House Speaker John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican in line to be the next Senate majority leader, to the White House -- along with other leaders of both parties -- to discuss agenda items he wants to see completed before the new Congress takes office in January.
On immigration, acting without Congress would be inviting big trouble, Boehner said yesterday, while McConnell equated it to waving a red flag in front of a bull a day earlier.
Republicans won more seats in both chambers in the Nov. 4 election and will now have the majority in the House and Senate.
Obama this week repeated a promise to take action by the end of the year to halt deportations for some undocumented immigrants if Congress doesnt move on rewriting U.S. law.
If the president does that, he will poison the well and there will be no chance for immigration reform moving in this Congress, Boehner told reporters at a news conference yesterday in Washington.
Boehners party won at least 245 House of Representatives seats in the Nov. 4 election, giving Republicans their largest majority since World War II. The party gained at least seven Senate seats, more than enough to take control in January.
Obama said Republicans who might be angered or frustrated are also deeply opposed to immigration reform in any form.
What Im not going to do is just wait, the president said.
The Democratic-run Senate last year voted to boost border security and create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, a policy some Republicans call amnesty. The plan, S. 744, stalled in the House, where leaders said they wanted to act on a piecemeal basis though no bills were passed.
By Paul Waldman November 6 at 12:21 PM
There are two phrases that have been on everyones lips in Washington since Tuesday night. Republicans now need to show they can govern, because everyone wants to get things done. Republican leaders, the New York Times tells us, are eager to demonstrate that they can get things done. President Obama has expressed optimism that GOP leaders want to find some common ground, adding that we want to get things done. Vice President Joe Biden opined that Republicans are going to choose to get things done. One winning candidate after another repeated the mantra: now we can really start getting things done.
Let me go out on a limb here and say that Mitch McConnell is not hoping to create a sparkling new era of bipartisan cooperation. He knows that the things he and his colleagues would really like to do are impossible so long as theres a Democratic president with a veto pen. That means what he does in the next two years is all about making it more likely that 2016 sees the GOP hold on to its majority in the Senate (the House is almost a given) and a Republican wins the White House.
Control of both houses doesnt mean Republicans have to show they can govern. It means they have new ways at their disposal to get credit for trying to govern, even if they know they wont actually get much done, which, as it happens, is an outcome they may not mind that much.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), in line to be the next majority leader, said voters expect newly empowered Republicans and the White House to find common ground for action. (AP)
Yesterday the conservative National Review published an editorial on what they called the governing trap. Republicans, they counseled, shouldnt even bother trying to govern in the next two years. Instead, they should continue to obstruct President Obama and lay out an agenda they can run on in 2016, because not much progress is possible until we have a better president. Getting one ought to be conservatisms main political goal over the next two years.
While it may be unusually forthright, this isnt bad advice, politically speaking. After all, following the path of obstruction instead of governing has worked out pretty darn well for Republicans over the last six years. When Barack Obama took office, Democrats controlled both houses of Congress; now Republicans do.
Still, now that they have both houses of Congress, they have to adapt to a new atmosphere in which theyll be judged more directly on whether they do actually govern and get stuff done. To that end, Boehner and McConnell published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal saying, The skeptics say nothing will be accomplished in the next two years. As elected servants of the people, we will make it our job to prove the skeptics wrong.
The Republicans now face a few different audiences when they consider what, and how much, they should get done. They have to please their base, they have to avoid alienating the broader electorate, and they have to present a story to the media that explains why theyre not the problem in Washington.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) outlined his priorities at a news conference following the midterm elections that swept many Republicans into Congress. He said the president "needs to put politics aside" in dealing with Republican lawmakers. (AP)
Visit link:
Sargent: No, Republicans dont actually need to show they can govern