The Republican Nomination For President: The Race For The Race For The White House

If Boehner didn't raise any objections when being informed of the President's request to speak before congress, what difference does it make when the letter was sent if they didn't think there was any objection to it? Are you saying they put the President on an an answering machine rather than answering his or his staff's phone call?

When you thought Washington couldn’t get any lower, now the two parties are squabbling over when the president can speak to Congress. The White House asked if President Obama could address a joint session on Sept. 7 at 8:00 p.m., the same night and time as the next Republican presidential debate. House Speaker John Boehner, citing scheduled votes that would make a security sweep before the president’s speech impossible, asked the White House to move the speech to Sept. 8. Should this even be a story at all? No, of course not, but the whole episode should still have Democrats concerned.

Of the two, Boehner is acting less dignified. Citing a cluttered House schedule when he controls said House schedule is ridiculous, and citing the logistics of security sweeps on top of that is even more so, especially when Boehner’s rejection of the president’s request is historically unprecedented. Frankly, though, his actions aren’t surprising, given his antics during the debt ceiling debate.

But I’m more disappointed with the White House, because this spat sums up so well the image problems that Obama has faced since the start of his term.

● If the White House has spent months working to appear above the partisan fray – as they insist they have – then pulling a blatantly partisan stunt like this torpedoes all of that PR work.

●Pretending the timing was a coincidence has backfired with the press and pundits. Did the White House really think, when it sent Jay Carney to his press briefing, that people would swallow his line that the timing was “coincidental”?

●In the aftermath of the announcement, the narrative of the afternoon on cable news ran in part that the White House had not cleared the date with the speaker, with some outlets suggesting that Boehner’s office had only been given 15 minutes notice. If true, the White House was disrespectful and should rightly be admonished.

● Since Boehner’s rejection, several outlets have now reported (and the White House is now insisting) that the speaker’s office “raised no objection or concern.” Yet if that is true, that’s scarcely better news for Obama, because that means his staff somehow let the opposite narrative in this “nuh-uh, ya-huh” debate get a multi-hour head start. Now they’re scrambling to correct the record. If only there’d been some kind of press conference where these details could have been mentioned.

If this was an attempt to make Republicans look unreasonable, then, in almost every conceivable way, it failed spectacularly. And scheduling the speech during the GOP debate, even if Boehner had immediately acceded, is the one way the White House could guarantee a) that fewer voters would be watching and that b) viewers and pundits would pay less attention to the speech’s content and more to the theatrics around it. In other words, it’s the easiest way to lessen the speech’s chances at success. If this is a preview of Obama’s re-election campaign, Democrats should be very worried

Democrats are wringing their hands over the latest apparent sign that President Obama is a wimp: After yesterday's public squabble—the White House announced Obama's jobs speech would be September 7, at the same time as the GOP debate, which then prompted House Speaker John Boehner to issue an angry letter!—now Obama will give his speech on September 8. White House spokesman Jay Carney said today, "Our intention was merely for the president to address a joint session of Congress as soon as possible upon Congress’s return from recess. Both houses are supposed to be -- will be in session next Wednesday, so we asked for that day," adding that Boehner's office never objected when September 7 was initially requested.
Carney continued, "You know what? That’s fine - we’ll go Thursday. Our interest is not in having a political back-and-forth here, at all. … Look, Americans are sick and tired of the partisan bickering, the gridlock."
One Democratic congressional aide moaned to Politico, "The narrative about the jobs speech has now become about when the speech is given, not the substance of the speech." The White House apparently didn't tell either party about a September 7 speech either—a Democratic Senate aide said it was "pure Obama — keeping us in the dark until the last minute."
According to the Washington Post, "The dust-up underscored Obama’s dilemma as he attempts to show progress on the economy while distancing himself from a dysfunctional Washington." The NY Times also called the exchange between the White House and Boehner's office "a surreal volley of letters" and "a very public game of chicken."

What do you expect from "No Backbone Obama?"

Next thing you know, Obama will be on his knees to beg Boehner for a time slot for his SOU.

Next thing you know, Obama will be on his knees to beg Boehner for a time slot for his SOU.

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley telephoned Speaker Boehner directly late yesterday morning, sketching out the President’s plans to make his jobs proposal in an address to a Joint session – on Wednesday.

The Speaker did not object, but, Republicans say, he had to look at logistics and did not expect WH Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer to tweet the details an hour later.

The Boehner offer “on behalf of the bipartisan leadership and membership of both the House and Senate” to speak “at a time that works best for your schedule” was made public four hours after that.

The NFL season opener kicks off at 8:35pm Eastern time Thursday. By then the President’s address may be over, and only the GOP response and pundits will lose out.

Regardless of the president's motives or even Boehner's , the fact remains, they did call, no objection was made. A white house staff tweeted the details before Boehner's office looked at logistics and decided the next day would be better. The WH agreed.

I'm curious why Boehner agreed to let Congress reconvene on a day that the GOP is holding a debate.

Oh.. that's right. Obama wanted to speak on their first day back.... But somehow that was political on HIS part?

What a f**** crock of **** you are spewing george.

What the hell did they suppose the Speaker of the House would do ????

I'm curious why Boehner agreed to let Congress reconvene on a day that the GOP is holding a debate.

Oh.. that's right. Obama wanted to speak on their first day back.... But somehow that was political on HIS part?

What a f**** crock of **** you are spewing george.

Government employment continued to trend down over the month (-17,000).
Despite the return of about 22,000 workers from a partial government shutdown
in Minnesota, employment in state government changed little in August (+5,000).
Employment in local government continued to decline. Since employment peaked
in September 2008, local government has lost 550,000 jobs.