By Gary L. Bauer
And what about Sen. Rand Pauls Filibuster?
President Obama invited a dozen Republican senators to dinner last Wednesday night. Rather than hosting them at the White House where the president clearly has the upper hand they met in neutral territory -- at the Jefferson Hotel. And Obama personally picked up the tab.
Next week he will travel down Pennsylvania Avenue and attend the weekly luncheon with the entire Republican Senate caucus. That is something Obama has not done since May of 2010. In addition President Obama has been making phone calls to key Republican leaders such as Rep. Paul Ryan chairman of the House Budget Committee.
The dinner is being widely hailed here in Washington for a variety of reasons. Many in the media noted that the presidents new charm offensive is a dramatic shift in strategy and stands in stark contrast to his recent campaign-style rallies where he aggressively attacked congressional opponents as if the election were not over.
Perhaps President Obama is considering his legacy. Sure he got Obamacare. But with the Middle East in flames and the economy on the ropes he has reason to be concerned. A lot of pundits think last nights dinner is a sign that a big deal on entitlements and revenues can still be made between this president and congressional Republicans.
According to the
Washington Post President Obama still wants to get another $600 billion in tax increases and may be willing to consider reforms to major entitlement programs in exchange for more revenue. Im skeptical and I certainly do not believe that higher taxes will help the economy. But if the president is making a genuine attempt to focus on governing that would be a welcome change.
Public Approves Sequester Cuts
The dreaded sequester crisis has been as big a fizzle as the massive snow storm that was supposed to hit Washington D.C. yesterday. The public did not buy the hysterical claims <http://www.politico.com/politico44/2013/03/obama-administration-sequester-claims-shot-down-by-158626.html?hp=l18> about the sequester cuts.
In fact a new
ABC poll asked whether or not Americans favored a 5 across-the-board cut in federal spending. Sixty-one percent said yes while just 33 said no. The same poll also found that the public overwhelmingly rejected (34-to-60) big cuts to defense spending. Perhaps that is why the president is reaching out to congressional conservatives.
Senator Rand Pauls Filibuster
While some Republican senators dined with President Obama last night another GOP meeting was taking place on the Senate floor led by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). Senator Paul continues to raise his profile perhaps with 2016s presidential competition in mind.
Yesterday he made waves by conducting a filibuster of John Brennans nomination to head the CIA. But Brennan was just the excuse. Senator Paul chose the tactic because he was upset that the Obama Administration appeared to be open to using drones to kill U.S. citizens inside the United States who were determined to be Al Qaeda linked terrorists.
This was not one of those wimpy filibusters that senators normally use in which there are merely repeated votes to end debate. This was an old fashioned talk-a-thon similar to what Jimmy Stewart did in the classic movie
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
Senator Paul actually spoke for 13 hours. Periodically he would yield the floor to friendly senators including Ted Cruz (R-TX) Mike Lee (R-UT) Marco Rubio (R-FL) Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and a few others who he could trust to yield back to him. Eventually however Paul had to end his efforts because nature called and he could not stay on the Senate floor indefinitely.
Just a week ago Senator Rand Paul disappointed me and many conservatives when he voted to confirm Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. As a Reagan conservative I still have doubts about Senator Rand Pauls brand of libertarianism.
But conservative commentator Charles Krauthammer said on
Fox that Pauls effort may be the moment he becomes a national force.
I agree. His filibuster last night has hit a nerve with many.
