Obama May Have Worn Out His Welcome On Capitol Hill - LATimes

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Obama May Have Worn Out His Welcome On Capitol Hill - LATimes

Obama may have worn out his welcome on Capitol Hill
The president's threat to veto a war funding bill is an 'unwelcome message' to House Democrats, many of whom face a tough midterm election after yielding to the White House's agenda.
By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau
July 9, 2010
Reporting from Washington

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The moment has been long in coming, but it may finally have arrived.

For the last year and a half, on issues including healthcare, financial regulation and climate change, Democrats in Congress have bent for President Obama. Liberals swallowed hard to accept compromises that fell short of their long-sought goals, and moderates cast tough votes that now threaten their reelection prospects as voters revolt against government overreach.

Then, last week, the president asked them to bend yet again — this time to approve more money for his troop buildup in an Afghanistan war that many Democrats oppose.

And once again, lawmakers went to work. On the eve of the vote last week, Democratic leaders compiled a complicated $82-billion package of war funding, disaster aid and domestic spending that achieved the seemingly impossible — meeting the president's request while accommodating the needs of its politically diverse members.

Obama responded with a one-word message that sent shudders through his party on the Hill: veto.

In that exchange, the tension between the White House and the president's Democratic allies spilled over.

Obama has led what historians have called the most productive Congress since President Lyndon Johnson, but he may have a much harder time extracting difficult compromises in the future.

"You've got a lot of people doing a lot of heavy lifting here," said freshman Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.). "I don't know that we expected flowers and chocolates," he said. But the president's response "was an unwelcome message."

In recent weeks, the president has expressed growing interest in the remaining items on his legislative agenda, including energy and immigration policy. Both are initiatives whose only hope at passage would require another legislative squeeze from the lawmakers who have already yielded to some of the president's toughest requests.

Yet compromise appears difficult as lawmakers approach the midterm election when they, not the president, must fight for their political lives in a tough electoral climate.

"There's no question we've taken on big policy issues," said Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-Pa.). "Each time we reach a heavy lift we think, 'How are we going to do more?' We do."

Perhaps no issue illustrates the divide between the president and his party as the troop increase in the Afghanistan war, an escalated military campaign that many Democrats opposed.

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More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-war-congress-20100709,0,4725695,full.story

:shrug: