Obama chastises Republicans as he invites them to work with him to help the middle-class
President Obama gave some spirited remarks at the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting. In the clip montage above he made some fun of the GOP for their failed predictions about his economic policies. He was amused by their new found affection for the middle-class. He mentioned statements made by many Republicans about wanting to be the party of the middle-class and for the American worker.
Ultimately he said it was a good thing. He said the Democrats had already walked the walk for the middle-class and invited the Republicans to do the same. He said he has been trying to work with Republicans from the time he came to offices but that they never reciprocated.
He said that now that they are talking about helping the middle-class, Democrats should welcome the new change if it is real.
The President had the following prescient statement he hopes the GOP heeds. “So, look, I think the shift in rhetoric that they’re engaging in is good if it actually leads them to take different actions,” President Obama said. “If it doesn’t, then it’s just spin. If it doesn’t, if you’re just trying to repackage the same top-down economics and use the words “middle class” attached to it, if you’re just going to keep on cutting taxes at the top and not raise minimum wages for folks who are struggling, then it’s just spin. You’re trying to bamboozle folks.”
The reality is that Republicans have no interest in working with President Obama. It will take a movement by the average American citizens to force them to do so. It will require Republicans to pay a price for putting party ahead of the American people. As long as Americans stay home, as long as the average American refuse to engage in the body politic, intransigence and hypocrisy will continue to define our politics.