House Speaker John Boehner has replied to President Obama’s request to have his jobs speech/campaign kickoff in a joint session of Congress the same night that the GOP contenders are debating, with an “Um, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
As you know, the House of Representatives and Senate are each required to adopt a Concurrent Resolution to allow for a Joint Session of Congress to receive the President. And as the Majority Leader announced more than a month ago, the House will not be in session until Wednesday, September 7, with votes at 6:30 that evening. With the significant amount of time – typically more than three hours – that is required to allow for a security sweep of the House Chamber before receiving a President, it is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, when we can ensure there will be no parliamentary or logistical impediments that might detract from your remarks. As such, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership and membership of both the House and Senate, I respectfully invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, September 8, 2011 in the House Chamber, at a time that works best for your schedule.
We look forward to hearing your ideas and working together to solve America’s jobs crisis.
Shorter Boehner: Did you guys even bother to check into this at all before blaring it all over the press?
Is it just me, or is there a bit of cheek in that last sentence? It’s not like the president has proffered an actual idea of his own to create jobs since his inauguration.
Update: Newfound respect for Speaker Boehner, since Thursday is the night the NFL season kicks off.
Update: Hm. From FNC’s Ed Henry–
WH official says “Boehner’s office was consulted about the 9/7 date before the letter was released. No objection/concern was raised”
There too many unknowns in all that. Who is the “WH official” and who in “Boehner’s office” was allegedly aware of it?
Update: Now Boehner’s office says now way, didn’t happen.
Spokesman for Speaker Boehner @Brendan_Buck says “no one in the Speaker’s office” agreed in advance to the 9/7 address to Congress.
That was a very diplomatic way of saying, up yours, sir.
Honestly. The childishness of this President is breath taking. Although, it’s getting harder and harder to be shocked by the actions of this dude.
WH: The Audacity of BHOpe
Boehner: the Change We Need*
(*Obama’s revamped campaign slogan, Sep 2008)
Well played, Mr. Boehner. Right down the fairway.
…at a time that works best for your schedule
LOL… it’ll have to be early
NBC/NFL Network Special On Sept. 8, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. ET. Precedes NFL Kickoff Game: NEW ORLEANS SAINTS vs. GREEN BAY PACKERS. It’s time to get Back To Football as the NFL …
Let the games begin ! ! !
I’m just waiting for The Obama to demand
the NFL game be delayed…
That actually wouldn’t surprise me.
Until NBC announces otherwise, I expect them to cut away from the game to show Ear Leader reading. NBC = GE = Obama’s buddy Immelt. Many words have been written here about the money and power transfers in their relationship…
(Wisconsin’s lost to them in 2012 anyway; the voter ID law should cut down on the buses of voters from Illinois.)
I wonder if that maybe in some teeny-tiny way had something to do with Boehner’s suggestion to reschedule (that is, knowing the president’s address would collide with a major event on a network that has been a huge Obama cheerleader). It almost puts NBC in a no win position, doesn’t it? They can cut away from the game and, shall we say “displease,” millions of football fans, or they can stick with the game and displease the White House. I’m sure Karl Rove had something to do with that. What a frickin’ brilliant evil genius!
Shame you couldn’t have both at the same time on different channels. See which one gets a bigger audience.
Obungo could even work some football metaphors into his speech: “Bush left me at my own 1 yard line,which is why I haven’t had a single first down. But if only Congress would give me extra time and trillions more I could get this jobs dealio past the 50 yard line.”
Watch the GOP debate and tape Obama. If you must absolutely hear his speech. I suppose we do need to analyse it so we keep abreast of the tricks.
Obama continues to set new lows for demeaning the office that he (likely unconstitutionally) holds.
Gotta admit, that was some skilled politicking. The message was polite, and was very straightforward on its face, but it was charged with hidden-meanings, and a great big FU.
Translation: I am Speaker of the House, because We Won. Joint sessions of Congress do not happen without my approval, and don’t you forget it. Go back on vacation.
Someone needs to point out the Financial Impact on this issue. In the first place, the debates are being held at the Reagan Library which is located in CALIFORNIA, which is a Union Only state governing contracts for:
Staging
Lighting
Cameras
Sound
Satellite trucks
Transcribers for Close Captioning
Security
Production Assistants
Grips
Gaffers
Sound Crew
Camera Crew
Caterers
Stylists
Legal and Insurance
Advertising Production and Schedules
and booking Satellite Time
+ plus a million more things involved in the “over 1 year of planning and promotion” of the event. All of these contracts have already been drawn up and signed for some time. In a Union state, there are significant penalties for “running late” or rescheduling. IF and that’s a BIG IF, all of your staffing is even available. Nor does it include the costs that the contracts and expenses the campaigns have already incurred for travel, lodging and on site staffing.
This is a very big Financial hit that Obama is asking a number of people to take on his behalf.
Another set of costs on this, is the loss of advertising dollars that will be experienced by the Networks as well as the local affiliates when he does finally give this speech.
Seems to me that rather than play polite politics with this dunder headed move by the Obama Campaign, that a really smart reporter (or Speaker of the House) would be on the phone with the Accountant for the Debate and put a number of people employed and $$$ involved to Obama’s little temper tantrum.
Talk about a jobs lost issue!
Your list is actually a list of Obama beneficiaries and the penalties you cite are bonus money in their pockets.
He really doesn’t care about where the money comes from.
Another set of costs on this, is the loss of advertising dollars that will be experienced by the Networks as well as the local affiliates when he does finally give this speech.
They could sell speech ads to the government owned auto companies. “Tonight’s speech from The Won brought to you buy Governments motors. Where empty beer cans isn’t the only thing we leave in your parking lot. . . .Chevy Volt”.
I’ll be taking a pass on Obama’s speech whenever he gives it. I spent a large part of my adult life life trying to defeat communism, not import it to America.
King Putt = S C O A M F!
Ed Henry wouldn’t be trying to cause trouble, now would he??
A classless show of disrespect to a sick and frail Nancy Reagan as well – shameful.
Its going to be a long 15 months.
Guess what Obama? – you lose again. Does this idiot have a band of 2000 smarter-than-average chimpanzees formulating his re-election strategy as well as his foreign policy?
Yes, it’s classic Obama – arrogant and self-important, and denigrating any and all others who dare to challenge him. It was an open challenge..and the GOP didn’t back down.
Although, there were a number of options:
1) Why does it have to be before Congress? Obama could just give a prime time TV speech, on let’s say, a Tuesday Sept 6th. Why does it have to be in Congress?
2) The GOP could have said, sure, give your speech; we’ll set out debate one hour later, and tear your comments instantly, to shreds.
3) Obama’s handlers might have realized that IF Obama gave his speech at the same time as the GOP debate, the audience might have tuned in to the GOP rather than him. Do they want that?
4)Won’t they have the same problem on Thursday, when the majority of the audience will be tuned in to the NFL? Or, is it easier to say – oh, those peasants – they prefer sports to politics…
5)And why not on Tuesday? Because the GOP Wed debate would shred it?
Did he really think the GOP would or could, switch dates? I almost think that he did expect them to do this. Then, when it appeared that the GOP would NOT switch dates…he backed down.
Has anybody noticed how most of the big players of democrat apparatus are remaining silent and out of sight? Perhaps they’re good students of of such strategies as hand them enough rope and they will hang themselves and loose lips sinks ships.
This is a deliberate calculation on the part of the White House. Remember, if you can’t beat them on substance you have to confuse the audience with technicalities and manufactured problems. This scheduling “conflict” makes it look like the President is trying hard to do something, when in reality he isn’t. His water-carrying journalists are setting up the narrative of this scheduling problem and how those nasty Republicans are letting politics come before the nation -instead of talking about the substance of his plan. It is really quite brilliant in its base simplicity.
– are you ready for some football?!
Score: Boehner 1, WH -1. Team Obama can’t even schedule meetings without embarrassing the boss, outstanding!
This works out great, I’ll be tuning in to PJM for drunkblogging the President’s speech, grey goose in my favorite slurpee. The only way this could get any better would be for Bush to give the Republican response. Or Cheney.
I haven’t been impressed with Boehner, but he and his staff did a pretty fair job on this one. It’s not the possible “FU”, but rather the way he turned the situation 180 degrees:
Obama asked to speak at the opening session–lots of ceremonial gravitas there. “Oh, you say that just happens to also be at the same time as the GOP candidate debate? Gosh, we didn’t even notice!”
So as Obama’s staff calculated it, Boehner would be caught in a bind: If he declines Obama’s request and offers a later date Obama would be able to tell voters “I believed it was urgent to get my crucial jobs program running as soon as humanly possible, but the Republican Speaker of the House wanted to delay…”
Pretty slick.
Boehner’s staff used the plausible excuse of uncertainty about parliamentary moves on opening session to decline, then offered Obie Thursday–the day the Pack was gonna play the Steelers.
This was really slick, because now *Obama* is in the bind: If he declines, he’s implicitly admitting that the football game might draw a bigger audience than his speech. (Gee, ya think?) So he’s pretty much trapped.
The only slicker thing would have been for Boehner to offer *Tuesday*, using the preznit’s own argument that voters are really desperate to hear his brilliant plan, so we shouldn’t wait even one extra day. Of course Obie wouldn’t want to give his speech before the GOP debate because the candidates would have a chance to tear into his “great” plan. But if Obama declined, then the Republicans could say “Hey, we thought this was so important, but clearly Obama preferred to delay, so apparently he’s not all *that* concerned about jobs…”
Still, well played.