President Obama is getting ready for Mitch McConnell, and John Boehner’s Republican led congressional majority by firing up his pen for what could be a barrage of presidential vetoes.
The AP gave a hint of what is to come for the new Republican majority,
Veto brinkmanship between congressional Republicans and President Barack Obama was virtually absent in his first six years in office, but it’s about to unleash itself on Washington.
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The White House also has promised to veto any bills restricting the president’s major changes to immigration policies, setting up likely showdowns early next year.
Obama’s threats present the type of bind that Republicans may face repeatedly in the next two years. They can agree to many or all of the changes he demands in legislation, or they can let him use his veto and hope Americans will blame him more than them.
The strategy of hoping that the American people will blame the president more than congressional Republicans has backfired on the GOP every time that they have tried it. Republicans were suffering from a delusional belief that if they won majority control of the Senate, they could force Obama to carry out their agenda.
Reality has already become evident as Boehner and McConnell have bumbled and blustered their response to Obama’s immigration executive orders and a potential government shutdown. So far, the incoming Republican majority has revealed itself to be woefully incompetent and plagued by internal divisions when trying to respond to President Obama.
Obama’s veto pen is going to fired up and ready to go as soon as the next Congress is sworn in. When the White House worked with congressional liberals to kill a bill giving corporations hundreds of millions of dollars in permanent tax cuts, it was a preview of things to come.
The president is going to vetoing plenty of items on the Republican wish list, and he has enough votes in the Senate to uphold his vetoes. The result of this standoff is that President Obama is going to spend the “lame duck” years of his presidency as a vital figure in American politics.
The first two years of his presidency were about getting things done, and the last two years will be about protecting his accomplishments.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
