Obama tests his bipartisan potential

President Obama meets with House and Senate Republicans on Tuesday for talks that could give some indication of how much bipartisan spirit exists in support of efforts to tackle the country's economic crisis.
bama is hoping to rally support for his $825 billion stimulus package on the eve of a crucial House vote.

The Democratic majorities in both chambers make passage of the plan likely, but the Obama team doesn't want it to look as though there are no Republicans on board.

"This is a critical first test for President Obama," said CNN Political Editor Mark Preston. "During the campaign, he spoke at length about ending bipartisanship in Washington and reaching across party lines to get things accomplished. Now he has a chance, by listening to their concerns about tax cuts."

Republicans have expressed reservations about the proposal, calling for more tax cuts and less spending.

The bill the House will vote on includes $550 billion in spending and aid to states and $275 billion in tax cuts.

Democratic strategist Jaime Harrison says Obama is going to talk to Republicans to try to integrate some of their ideas into the plan. The tax cuts already in the proposal are one example of an "olive branch" to the GOP, Harrison said. "This package is a package of a lot of different things -- of tax cuts and also investments and the infrastructure of this country. And so it's all about employing folks and then giving tax breaks to the hardworking American folks," he said.
Obama has had to do some negotiating with Democrats, too

The bill put together by House Democrats doesn't include everything he wanted. Negotiators dropped a $3,000-per-hire tax credit that Obama proposed to provide incentives for employers to create jobs in the United States, among other changes.

While Obama is expected to have broad Democratic support, he's running into Republican opposition in both the House and Senate.

Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, says the bill that House Democrats offered isn't a bipartisan one.

"The President's call for a compromise has been completely ignored by House Democrats who would use a time of national economic crisis to fund their big government priorities under the guise of stimulating the economy," Pence said in a statement.

"The Democrat bill won't stimulate anything but more government and more debt. The slow and wasteful spending in the House Democrat bill is a disservice to millions of Americans who want to see this Congress take immediate action to get this economy moving again."

Republicans point to appropriations like $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, $20 million for sodding the National Mall, $400 million for climate change research and $200 for contraception programs as "longstanding liberal spending priorities," according to Pence.

Congressional leaders are now dropping the provision that would have provided $200 million worth of contraceptives to low-income families, according to a senior administration official and a Democratic official on Capitol Hill.

The officials said the move is aimed at trying to win bipartisan support for the bill amid Republican charges that it is full of wasteful provisions that will not stimulate the economy.

"How you can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives -- how does that stimulate the economy?" asked Rep. John Boehner, the House minority leader.

The provision would have removed a requirement that states seek permission from the federal government to provide family planning services for Medicaid recipients.

Revisions aren't enough for some Republicans. Sen. John McCain is demanding a complete overhaul.

"It's just the old spending practices of liberal Democrats. So I hope we will be able to sit down and negotiate, but right now I cannot vote for the stimulus package, as it's been presented," said McCain, R-Arizona.

"Republicans understand that Obama's approval rating is in the 70s, and it will be difficult for them to stop him from collecting wins early on in his presidency," Preston said. "But that doesn't mean they are going to lie down and let him run over them. Republicans can't abandon their principles. The midterm elections are right around the corner and the GOP must show their willingness to work with the president on some issues and hold their ground on others."

Deep Republican opposition to the broader plan still lingers after the barbs traded at Friday's White House meeting over who should benefit from tax cuts.

According to sources who were in the room, after Republicans made their case, the president shot back, referring to the election: "I won."

Aides are trying to downplay any hard feelings.

"The president said that he felt confident with the tax cuts that he'd run on, that the people had weighed in on what they thought might be a good way to stimulate the economy. He said he won. And the next thing that happened is, everybody laughed," said Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary.

"So, this wasn't cowboy diplomacy. This was, I think, a rather lighthearted moment."

Republican strategist Ron Christie says the stimulus plan will likely pass in the House without any real Republican opposition, but the Senate will be where Republicans can have an influence in shaping the package. A full House vote is expected Wednesday; key Senate committees will debate and vote on the Senate version of the bill Tuesday.

"Republicans are very concerned about the size of the spending," Christie said. "We want to make sure that we are stimulative as possible, but the government doesn't prolong this recession by increasing spending, raising taxes and otherwise hindering economic development."

The president hopes to have the plan passed by Congress and on his desk for signing by mid-February.