President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner met at the White House on Sunday to try to jump-start the "fiscal cliff" negotiations as members of Congress teetered between calls for cooperation and jabs at the other side's failure to compromise.
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
President Obama won re-election last month by a larger margin than even his most fervent supporters had expected, though with fewer popular votes than he received in 2008. Most commentators initially opined that not much had changed in Washington. The president would remain in the White House for another four years, the Democrats would keep control of the Senate, and the House would stay in Republican hands. Most Republicans re-elected to both houses of Congress had publicly pledged not to vote to raise taxes under any circumstances. Most of those Republicans have adhered to that promise -- until now.
President Obama said Wednesday that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice has been "extraordinary" as he sought to boost the embattled diplomat's prospects on Capitol Hill, where she has been trying to smooth the way for a possible promotion to secretary of state but has stumbled in meetings with key Republican senators.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice met Wednesday with key Republican senators, but her effort to allay questions about how the Obama administration initially described the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was no more successful than it had been Tuesday.
Three Republican senators who met Tuesday with Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said they are more troubled now over her initial explanations about the deadly Sept. 11 raid in Libya.
Republican senators said Tuesday that they have even more questions about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice, who has become a lightning rod for criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the attack.
Politics is not a game that comes naturally to Republicans. Little boys in Republican families usually want a briefcase, not a baseball glove, a football or boxing gloves for their sixth birthday. President Ronald Reagan, the modern Republican icon, was a Democrat first, after all. So there’s no surprise now that President Obama, armed with a well-fitting suit, well-shined shoes, a gift of gab and a unique skill at hijacking America for extended guilt trips, is about to roll the Republicans at the lip of fiscal cliff.
