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» Hatrack River Forum » Active Forums » Books, Films, Food and Culture » Obama and Republicans engage in House of Commons style debate

   
Author Topic: Obama and Republicans engage in House of Commons style debate
Lyrhawn
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I wasn't aware of this little tradition, but apparently, the sitting president always speaks at the House GOP Annual Retreat. Now, we really don't know what has gone on in these meetings because they've been closed events to the public. Generally I think one of the biggest structural problems in our democracy is that our politicians never talk to each other. They lob attacks through third person intermediaries, and the only time they are forced to talk is during presidential elections, in heavily a heavily filtered, scrubbed, practiced dance, rather than a true back and forth, freewheeling debate.

It has long been my wish that the President would meet with Congress in a sort of House of Commons style debate. They could ask him anything, and he'd have to answer extemporaneously, with no knowledge of what might be asked, and they could hammer him for answers. Frankly I'd like it do be a reverse House of Commons too, so it was more of a dialogue. But I've never gotten even a tiny taste of my wish...until now.

When Obama spoke at the House GOP Annual Retreat yesterday, they opened it up to the media for the first time. You can find the transcript of the entire event here. It was supposed to be something like an hour I think, and ended up being longer than 90 minutes. If you want to actually watch it, the first part is here on YouTube. I've only read it thus far (I just discovered it was online, so I'm watching it now).

Let me just say, that even though this was a tiny slice of what I'd like to see in a much larger, longer, and more regular format, this made me extremely happy. I would say that I don't even care what was said, just the basic format makes me happy, but a lot of what was said made me VERY happy. Very very happy.

I liked the general tone. They were largely amiable. Obama joked around a bit, but not in a way that implied he wasn't taking things seriously. The tone was something that I haven't seen in Congress in my life time: Collegiality. They didn't agree, and things got a little testy (it's described that way, I'll see for myself), but in general, the mood wasn't too tense or aggressive, it was a genuine, almost friendly, but largely professional, dialogue. It was like some wacky experiment hidden in the basement in how national dialogue over contentious issues COULD function.

A lot of it was just general back and forth over specific policy issues, and a lot of (some of it fair) Republican complaining over being ignored. I thought Obama by and large responded well, and for that matter, they picked a couple of very, very well chosen, articulate, intelligent Republicans who I actually liked, and represented their party well.

In particular, Obama said two things that I really liked. It's a long document and I didn't save the quotes when I was reading it, so I'll paraphrase. One, he basically offered a snapshot of my rant from the State of the Union discussion thread. He said that when Republicans can stonewall legislation because it isn't 80% or 100% of what they want, it's not a democracy anymore.

Two, and something I hadn't really thought a lot about before, is the way in which rhetoric can decide voting outcomes. If Republicans spend all their time demonizing a piece of legislation, it makes it extremely hard, from a PR stand point, for them to turn around and vote for that legislation later, and makes it difficult to negotiate on that legislation. When people actually believe the things they say, it becomes politically damaging to work with the opposition, thus killing bi-partisanship through rhetoric before it ever has a chance to work. Obama says it better than that, but that's the gist.

I'd like to see this happen once every other week, or maybe just whenever there's major legislation pending. And I'd like to see different branches of government involved. Anyway, for anyone out there who has spent years in the wilderness decrying American politics and growing more cynical and jaded by the hour, this might be a tiny beacon of hope...or just make you realize how far we are from the ideal.

Either way, enjoy!

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BlackBlade
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I read a synopsis of the meeting and I too agree it's a very important principle. I hope that when Obama committed to once a month meetings with both party's leadership that that is the sort of exchange we can come to expect. Of course some exchanges will prove more profitable than others, but just having them can go a long way towards making things happen.

I think the Republicans had some legitimate concerns and I was glad Obama 'conceded' the point as well as rebutting.

His point on rhetoric was a very good one, as was his manner of pointing out the folly of filibustering in the long term. I'm also glad he was able to talk directly to the accusations that healthcare was some sort of Bolshevism, but equally glad the atmosphere was such that a senator could openly say, "I really feel this bill is a government take over."

It's frustrating to have the legislators talking to each other, while the rest of us have to listen to pundits pretend they have some inside track on what's going on. In many cases when Rush Limbaugh says something is going down a certain way, his listeners believe he is some sort of super smart guy who just "knows" these things and believe accordingly.

It would be nice to have these sorts of meetings televised or reported on more often, so that people can hear from the horses mouth what the problems are.

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dabbler
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That felt good. I still have pessimism running through me on American politics from this last year though. It feels like the dialogue change he wants (and I want) is going to be too subtle for many politicians, on both sides, to grasp. The last question got on his nerves it seems. He had spent an hour talking about his observations and hopes. But this congressman started with a "we didn't mess up, look at how much you messed up and didn't listen to us." Back to finger pointing and grandstanding.
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Samprimary
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Welp. That was unexpectedly good.

I guess the GOP wanted to see obama without his teleprompter. They .. got their wish?

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Dobbie
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The Republicans did such a good job I forgot they were white.
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Stray
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*snerk*
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Strider
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quote:
Originally posted by Dobbie:
The Republicans did such a good job I forgot they were white.

hah...brilliant.

I really enjoyed that speech, and especially the question and answer. Much more so than the SOTU the other day.

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