Investors.com posted an article today about the chances of cooperation between President Obama and the new Republican congress.
The article begins:
Obama wasted no time setting a New Year’s tone of conciliation and cooperation with the empowered GOP through a series of urgent meetings with congressional leaders to find common ground on work for the American people. As he put it in his Dec. 19 news conference:
“I’m being absolutely sincere when I say I want to work with this new Congress to get things done, to make those investments, to make sure the government is working better and smarter.”
Oh, wait. No. Obama’s done none of that. That’s what a smart president like Bill Clinton did after losing both houses of Congress in 1994. And clearly has no intention of fulfilling his “absolutely sincere” pledge to work with the equal branch of government on Capitol Hill.
As Congress convened, President Obama stated that he would veto the Keystone XL Pipeline if it was passed by Congress. The President has been stalling the pipeline for six years, and there is no reason to believe that is going to change. Under President Obama, America will not be encouraged to achieve energy independence.
The article concludes:
Of course, Obama could break pattern and act like a leader, engaging with Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and calling their bluff on GOP promises of cooperation and joint efforts. Maybe actually agree on a few things. That would take some humility and more effort than flying around in a luxury 747 and talking at select adoring audiences.
Obama’s not the first president in his last two years to confront a Congress controlled by the opposition. As one of them promised, “We’re going to disagree on some things, but there are going to be areas of agreement and we’ve got to be able to make that happen.”
That POTUS, by the way, was Barack Obama last month.
Make no mistake–Congress has its eye on 2016; President Obama has his eye on President Obama. It is going to be an interesting year.