Testy Obama meets with Senate GOP

Our thin-skinned prez can't take the heat. In a meeting with Republicans, Politico's Manu Raju reports, Obama insisted they "stand up to their base" and work with him (a.k.a., betray their constituents and cave) on immigration reform and energy taxes. Why he thinks they would get on his sinking ship at this point is a mystery to me, but he headed over to the Capitol and made his pitch. He didn't care for the response he got:

"The more he talked, the more he got upset," Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) said. “He needs to take a valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans and just calm down, and don’t take anything so seriously. If you disagree with someone, it doesn’t mean you’re attacking their motives — and he takes it that way and tends then to lecture and then gets upset.”

No surprise to Obama-watchers. That's how he's been rolling since day one. No one is allowed to disagree with him, criticize him, or get in his way. When they do, he impugns their motives every time. He's been very consistent. Take a look at any major domestic speech. He accuses everyone else of irresponsibly playing politics. Only his motives are pure.

The report has it that McCain took the lead in standing up to Obama:

McCain said he told Obama: "We need to secure the borders first. He didn't agree." A McCain spokeswoman said their exchange was “frank but respectful.”

Shortly after the meeting, Obama called for 1,200 National Guard troops to be deployed to the border, and McCain quickly one-upped the president, asking for 6,000.

Obama also called for a comprehensive immigration plan, an idea McCain seemed to rebuff. And McCain also challenged Obama over constitutional concerns he's raised over Arizona’s controversial immigration law, saying administration officials needed to read the law first.

Addressing McCain and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Obama said his administration has done more to secure the border than others have.

"But, what he said to McCain and Kyl is that 'solving the problem is not going to just be a function of border security,'" according to a senior White House official. "That was the fault line of the discussion with the president urging Republicans to join him in supporting comprehensive immigration reform which many of them had supported before."

Things have changed a bit since then for John McCain: his seat is being challenged, and Arizona's border crisis has come to a head. So he's not as squishy as he was on immigration reform, much to Obama's dismay.

Sen. Bob Corker called the president out on his "duplicitous" dealings re regulatory reform:

In one of the most heated exchanges of the lunch, Corker accused Obama of acting “duplicitous” in his calls for bipartisanship, saying that he was trying to cut a deal on regulatory reform only to see the rug pulled out from underneath him. At one point, Corker said Obama was using lunch with Republicans as a “prop.”

"I told him I thought there was a degree of audacity in him even showing up today after what had happened with financial regulation," Corker told reporters after Republicans met with Obama.

Obama is still in ram-through mode. Even with the passage of Obamacare, his agenda is unfulfilled. He's getting resistance, and even he can see November from his house. This makes him angry and frustrated. No doubt the ongoing Gulf oil disaster has added a layer to his anxiety.

Republicans came away believing Obama wants to do too much, too fast.

"He wants to do immigration, climate change — all before we go home — he's a very ambitious guy," said Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.). "I think he needs to step back and see where the country is at."

He wants this all done now, Red China-style. If only he could be a dictator for a day . . . .

Love this revealing bit from Lindsey Graham:

“There was some good healthy give-and-take in there,” Graham said. “He believes that he’s bled for the country in terms of giving up political capital and making his base mad. He said that often. … It was at times testy; I think overall it was cordial.”

As ever, it's all about him. A year ago he'd just schedule a prime-time speech. I guess he finally got the message that the more he talks, the less we like what he's selling?


Linked at Michelle Malkin (buzzworthy)

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