House Republicans need more “economic patriotism,” President Obama suggested while making another call for Congress to pass his preferred policy initiatives.
“[W]e can make even more progress if Congress is willing to work with my administration and to set politics aside, at least occasionally, which I know is what the American people are urgently looking for,” Obama said Thursday at 1776. “It’s a sort of economic patriotism where you say to yourself, how is it that we can start rebuilding this country to make sure that all of the young people who are here but their kids and their grandkids are going to be able to enjoy the same incredible opportunities that this country offers as we have. That’s our job. That’s what we should be focused on. And it’s worth remembering as we go into Independence Day.”
House Speaker John Boehner’s office has pointed out that the Republicans are doing things — 40 things, currently pending in the Senate — they just aren’t passing the bills that Obama wants.
“It’s clear President Obama is hopelessly out of touch – claiming House Republicans are ‘not doing anything’ just doesn’t fit reality,” Matt Wolking wrote at Boehner’s website. ”Surely by now he’s heard about our jobs bills ‘on the news’? After all, dozens of them are sitting in the Senate, being blocked by Democrats like Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.).”