Video, Transcript: Obama and Republicans Spar in Q&A (1-29-10)

Judge for yourself whether there was any partisanship hope coming from this get-togehter.

in reference to:

"CONGRESSMAN RYAN: I would simply say that automatic stabilizer spending is mandatory spending. The discretionary spending, the bills that Congress signs that you sign into law, that has increased 84 percent. THE PRESIDENT: We'll have a longer debate on the budget numbers, all right? CONGRESSMAN PENCE: Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia. CONGRESSWOMAN CAPITO: Thank you, Mr. President, for joining us here today. As you said in the State of the Union address on Wednesday, jobs and the economy are number one. And I think everyone in this room, certainly I, agree with you on that. I represent the state of West Virginia. We're resource-rich. We have a lot of coal and a lot of natural gas. But our -- my miners and the folks who are working and those who are unemployed are very concerned about some of your policies in these areas: cap and trade, an aggressive EPA, and the looming prospect of higher taxes. In our minds, these are job-killing policies. So I'm asking you if you would be willing to re-look at some of these policies, with a high unemployment and the unsure economy that we have now, to assure West Virginians that you're listening. THE PRESIDENT: Look, I listen all the time, including to your governor, who's somebody who I enjoyed working with a lot before the campaign and now that I'm President. And I know that West Virginia struggles with unemployment, and I know how important coal is to West Virginia and a lot of the natural resources there. That's part of the reason why I've said that we need a comprehensive energy policy that sets us up for a long-term future. For example, nobody has been a bigger promoter of clean coal technology than I am. Testament to that, I ended up being in a whole bunch of advertisements that you guys saw all the time about investing in ways for us to burn coal more cleanly. I've said that I'm a promoter of nuclear energy, something that I think over the last three decades has been subject to a lot of partisan wrangling and ideological wrangling. I don't think it makes sense. I think that that has to be part of our energy mix. I've said that I am supportive -- and I said this two nights ago at the State of the Union -- that I am in favor of increased production. So if you look at the ideas that this caucus has, again with respect to energy, I'm for a lot of what you said you are for."
- Video, Transcript: Obama and Republicans Spar in Q&A (1-29-10) - Power To The People! (view on Google Sidewiki)

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Retiring Democratic Senator Says Obama Erred By Tackling Health Care First

FOXNews:

Sen. Byron Dorgan, who announced he would not seek re-election in November, said Friday that President Obama should have focused his first year in office on improving the economy instead of pursuing health care reform.

In an interview that will air Sunday on C-SPAN, the North Dakota Democrat said Obama made a mistake, not because health care isn't important but because the timing wasn't good.

"Standing in a very deep hole, it's hard to reach as high as you need to reach in order to put together a proposal that can get through the Congress," he said. "I personally would have said, let's work exclusively on restarting the economic engine once again and putting people back to work."

Dorgan's rebuke echoed comments made by fellow Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who also said this month that Obama should have focused on jobs first.