Most of the story is filled with the standard tsk-tsking of those obstructionist Republicans, and in fact is more blatant in this regard than usual.
But buried late in the article is a window into the two-part strategy the president will deploy at the speech: blame his captive audience, then announce he will be enacting policies that don’t require congressional approval. .....On the first, he will propose legislation the White House admits Congress won’t pass:
That sets up an opportunity, as Democrats see it, to saddle Republicans with the blame for a weak economy.
“The president wants to work with Republicans and Democrats to create jobs and grow the economy,” said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director.
“If nothing happens, it will be because Republicans in Congress made a conscious decision to do nothing. And that is a choice that will have tremendous consequences for the country.”
Mr. Obama also will propose added spending that Republicans are even more certain to oppose.
So Obama has scheduled a Joint Session of Congress to propose two kinds of plans: spending the Republicans oppose, and spending the Republicans really, really oppose. But wait, there’s a third:
To hold down overall federal costs, and to avoid having to go to Congress, Mr. Obama and his advisers have been looking for ways to divert existing government money to purposes that will create jobs, especially in the hard-hit construction industry.
snip
Obama is expected to argue that to the extent that states and local governments are relieved of school construction costs, they must avoid further layoffs of teachers.
So he’s not going to go through Congress anyway. He has no plans to get anything passed in the legislature, he just wants to slam Republicans while the public is watching.
snip
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/20...ma-congress-2/
COMMENTS:
The president of pork,.
All these critters know how to do is spend, spend and spend...
they need to keep their greedy base fed
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Daniel Pfeiffer
White House Director of Communications,
he replaces Anita Dunn of Maoist fame..
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 30, 2009
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Anita Dunn
Personal details
Born December 24, 1975 (age 35)
Wilmington, Delaware, United States
Political party Democratic Party
Alma mater Georgetown University
Daniel Pfeiffer (born December 24, 1975, Wilmington, Delaware)
is Assistant to the President of the United States and the White House
Communications Director
He was previously a member of Obama's presidential transition team.
In 2000, he was a spokesperson for Vice President Al Gore.
He has since worked for Senators Tim Johnson, Tom Daschle,
and Evan Bayh, and was communications director for
the Obama campaign.
Pfeiffer was formerly a spokesman for Senator Evan Bayh.
He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University.
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