President Obama is preparing for what will be a “defiant tone for dealing with the new Republican-led Congress when he addresses Americans next week in his State of the Union speech.” He plans to introduce areas of potential compromise, but will cede little ground to Republicans. Reuters,
But much like a White House meeting Obama held on Tuesday with congressional leaders, he is not expected to offer major concessions, in keeping with his pledge to act where he can on his own through executive actions and identify areas where the two sides can work together…
It’s a turnabout from two years ago after his re-election, when Obama launched a charm offensive with key Republican lawmakers to try to reach mutual understanding and seek compromises. That effort went nowhere and based on lessons learned, no repeat performance is anticipated, much to the chagrin of lawmakers who feel Obama has neglected them…
In response to the Republican surge, Obama has refused to cede turf. He bypassed Congress to relax U.S. immigration policy on his own and sealed a climate change agreement with China. He has threatened to veto key parts of the Republican agenda if it gets passed in Congress.
