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My fellow Americans: A few days ago, I went to Capitol Hill to meet with the Republican leadership to get their input on the massive economic stimulus package we’re about to approve. We worked very hard, we compromised, and I added a few of their suggestions.
As you have seen, even though we made compromises in this massive bill to garner support from our Republican members of Congress, every one of them voted against it – mostly because there is money for prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and because there is no tax cut for their wealthy friends.
Therefore, I intend to veto this bill, remove every one of these “compromises” and just go with what I originally wanted.
The time of a president is very valuable. There are a lot of things going on in the world and in America that demand my attention. Three hours is a long time when you’re president. I spent three hours on Capitol Hill with Republicans – adding and subtracting things to this bill in the hope that they would support it. We worked hard for this compromise. Not one House Republican supported this bill. It turns out, they had no intention of EVER supporting the bill. Their goal was simply this – the failure of this bill. So, I ask you: What was the point?
As such, I am not going to waste one more minute of my time on these people.
America, I know I promised you that I would be bi-partisan and be President for ALL of America. But that only works when the other side is a willing partner. Yesterday, every Republican in the House showed that they were not willing to do that. Not only that, but they wasted the country’s time pretending to work in a spirit of bi-partisanship while, all along, knowing that they never would vote for a bill that included many of the things they asked for.
Going forward, I will no longer waste your time and my time by meeting with Republicans unless there is a very important reason to do so. If they are willing to work on bills in a bi-partisan way, I will now require, before any meeting, a list of what they want added or deleted, along with signatures of support for the bill should those compromises be taken into consideration. That way, when the bill passes or fails, America will know who promised to support a bill and did not. It will show America who is willing to work to better this country and who is not. I realize this sounds very “grade school” but it’s the way things will work going forward. Again, you didn’t elect me to engage in futile efforts. You elected me to get work done. Spending hours on Capitol Hill with people who have no intention of accomplishing anything during that meeting is futile, and I will no longer do it.
We’ve worked too hard on this massive bill, and I have put a lot of time into addressing Republican concerns to get their support – even adding things to the bill that I disagreed with – all to no avail.
It’s time to stop wasting our time as a nation. It’s time to get to work. Democrats are willing to make the tough choices. It is obvious from the past few days that Republicans have no intention to work together with Democrats. Now that we know this, we won’t waste our time trying.
From now on, we’ll write bills and put them before the House and Senate for up or down votes.
If any reasonable Republican wants to work with us, we’d love that, and we will listen to him or her and make changes that are reasonable, well thought out, and agreeable to both sides. Not only that, but we will openly acknowledge the work that our Republican friends put into bettering America by working together so that you will know who cares about getting things done. However, if we do not find those Republican allies, then we will move forward, doing the work that the American people elected us to do.
Thank you
President Barack Obama
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(Partial Full credit goes to my talented ghostwriter, Michael D.)
(All photostyling credit goes to Zoolatry, as always.)
