"Mr. Obama thought the draft speech was too soft on the Republicans& so he personally sharpened it."

[Pirate Smile]

Obama Shifts Gears From Coaxing G.O.P. to Swaying the Public

By JOHN HARWOOD


President Obama toughened up a speech drafted by aides for an appearance last week at a Michigan plant.

CANNON FALLS, Minn. — House Speaker John A. Boehner once explained conservatives’ hard line on the debt limit this way: “A lot of them,” he told a radio host, believe “enough chaos” would make opponents yield.
Chaos arrived in financial markets last week after Standard & Poor’s, citing Washington gridlock, stripped the United States of its AAA credit rating.
Whoever ultimately gains political advantage, the events of the last few weeks have opened a new phase of President Obama’s fight to advance his agenda and win a second term.

-snip-
White House aides saw the shift after handing the president his speech for last week’s appearance at a factory in Michigan, as economic advisers monitored post-downgrade gyrations on Wall Street and the full-blown debt crisis in Europe.
Mr. Obama thought the draft speech was too soft on the Republicans — and so he personally sharpened it. The result: a famously “cool” president delivered the hottest rhetoric of his tenure, blistering opponents for refusing “to put the country ahead of party” because they would “rather see their opponents lose than see America win.”

-snip-
In addition to extending the current payroll tax cut for employees, Mr. Obama’s economic team is considering extending that cut to employers — doubling the $100 billion annual cost. In addition to a $50 billion infrastructure bank and a $45 billion extension of unemployment benefits, the administration is considering seeking a $75 billion tax break for companies hiring new workers.

-snip-
That leaves even some of Mr. Obama’s fiercest critics helping him make the public argument he will sound again on this week’s bus tour.
“If taxes cannot be raised under any circumstances, then we have veered from economic policy to religious catechism,” Peter Wehner, a former deputy to Karl Rove in Mr. Bush’s White House, wrote for Commentary.
He continued, “There is something amiss when the political pressure in a party, any party, is so intense that it prevents a serious intellectual conversation from even taking place.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/obama-shifts-gears-from-coaxing-g-o-p-to-swaying-the-public/?ref=politics

[tishaLA]

1. While I approve...

I do wish the sharpness of his rhetoric were matched by his general attitude toward republicons, to say nothing of his willingness to compromise.

[Little Star]

2. Words! I want actions!!!! n/t

[Pirate Smile]

5. LOL. Most "actions" require getting through Congress which isn't going to happen because Republicans

specifically do NOT want to do anything that will help the economy.

The President hadn't been actually fighting the Congressional Republicans all that much publicly because he WANTED ACTION i.e. to get through Congress what he could.

People want him to give that up which would mean he would mainly be able to fight with WORDS since he can't set up an infrastructure bank by himself or extend unemployment benefits or pass any stimulus for the economy.

People have been screaming for him to fight (which means with words) yet if he says anything to actually try to fight the Republicans then people say - No words, I want actions.

Geez.

Then focus on winning back the House & getting a 60 vote majority in the Senate along with retaining the Presidency, otherwise, most of what you will get is WORDS.

edit to add - you could blame it on our system of Checks & Balances as set up in the Constitution, along with how it is being exploited in the Senate through use of the filibuster or you could just blame the President and ignore the systematic impediments. Hmmmm I wonder which of those two you will focus on screaming about online. I think I already know the answer.

[Go2Peace]

12. What will we blame the awful "free trade" agreements on?

Or the social security tax holiday?

Or the game playing on the Public option?

Or his many endorsements of Republican economic ideas and framing?

Or the fact that it was our President that opened up and reinforced the false equivilency of the Social Security Trust, and made the first step towards cuts?

Or the "catfood commission"?

I agree that congress is incredibly messed up. But to some extent the President has brought this on himself because he did not lead.

Many now *get it*, that the *real* damage is the loss of the voice of the Democratic Party Idea. I am concerned about the near future, but I am far more concerned about what the Party and the President are doing by essentially neutering any real alternative vision.

There is a reason that all this is happening, and it is *not* the fault of those who elected Obama (of which I am one).

[AmBlue]

8. Talk is cheap.... meh. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

3. "MR. Obama"? nt

[grasswire]

4. standard journalistic style n/t

[Pirate Smile]

6. Yep. First reference is to President Obama and the references following that will simply use "Mr."

And Harwood does refer to him as President Obama in the first instance.

[unblock]

7. nyt's style is to call him "president" the FIRST time in the article only, then "mr." afterward.

they've done this with every president as long as i can remember.

note that they did this to boner as well, calling him "house speaker" the first time and then "mr." after that.

[awoke_in_2003]

9. okay, wasn't aware of that. nt

[renate]

10. I will be very happy to see more from Pissed-Off Obama in the future

And who is doing--or more accurately, NOT doing--his PR? If I hadn't seen anything about the payroll tax cut here on DU, I wouldn't have seen it at all--and I check cnn.com and msnbc.com several times a DAY, and other news websites at least once a day. I am a voter very very interested in politics and I have not seen anything about it anywhere else. So I'm genuinely curious--am I alone in this, or am I just not checking the right news sources?

[Pirate Smile]

11. He has two town halls tomorrow (starting his three day bus tour) where he is going to

try to promote some of his ideas because, like you said, they aren't getting out to the people.

The media just wants to cover horse race crap & gaffes. Substance? They're really not interested.

[KOfan]

13. Off with the gloves!

it is time for Hope again! No more playing games with the pea-brain partiers or Rep. candidates.

[totodeinhere]

14. So is he finally growing a pair? n/t