Absentee Obama.....If the Government Shuts Down it's His Fault!

This pathetic excuse for a President has only been ACTIVELY involved in these negotiations for about 48 hours...where's he been for the other 40+ days since the House passed their bill and where's he been since the first of the year when the first CR was passed?.....he's been playing golf...taking his family to Rio for spring break....doing his NCAA basketball brackets....AND now he hopes to wrap this up today so he can go on an extended weekend with his family to Williamsburg?????? This is your President working hard for you!...What a joke this guy is....he no more gives a damn about what happens to the average American than flying a kite...he is SO out of touch that it isn't funny.....

It's time for him to GO!....2012 Cannot come soon enough!

Closer, closer ...
Tracking Obama's budget optimism

By MATT NEGRIN | 04/08/11 6:53 AM Updated: 04/08/11 6:54 AM

Mum on budget talk specifics, Obama has shared optimism about the process. AP Photo
Close President Obama and his White House surrogates have refused to shed much light on the nature of the budget negotiations in the days leading up to Friday, the deadline for a deal to avoid a government shutdown.

But for at least a week, Obama has insisted that an agreement is within reach, even as House Speaker John Boehner and even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expressed some doubts along the way.

Here’s a timeline of what Obama was saying about the budget talks as he was getting more involved toward the end:

April 1: “So far, after a few weeks of negotiations between Democrats, Republicans, and my team at the White House, it appears that we’re getting close to an agreement between the leaders of both parties on how much spending we should cut. There are still details and differences to work out.”

April 5: “I think what they’re looking from me is the same thing that they’re looking from Speaker Boehner and Harry Reid and everybody else, and that is, is that we act like grownups, and when we are in negotiations like this, that everybody gives a little bit, compromises a little bit in order to do the people’s business. ...

“This notion that somehow we’re offering smoke and mirrors – try to tell that to the Democrats out there, because part of what we’ve done is we’ve been willing to cut programs that we care deeply about, that are really important, but we recognize that given the fiscal situation that we’re in, everybody has got to make some sacrifices; everybody has got to take a haircut.”

April 6: “After weeks of negotiations, we’ve now agreed to cut as much spending as the Republicans in Congress originally asked for. I’ve got some Democrats mad at me. ... We’ve agreed to a compromise, but somehow we still don’t have a deal, because some folks are trying to inject politics in what should be a simple debate about how to pay our bills. They’re stuffing all kinds of issues in there – abortion and the environment and health care. ...

“I do not want to see Washington politics stand in the way of America’s progress. At a time when you’re struggling to pay your bills and meet your responsibilities, the least we can do is meet our responsibilities to produce a budget.”

April 6: “I remain confident that if we're serious about getting something done we should be able to complete a deal and get it passed and avert a shutdown. But it’s going to require a sufficient sense of urgency from all parties involved. ... There’s no reason why we should not be able to complete a deal. There’s no reason why we should have a government shutdown.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/06/remarks-president-budget-talks

April 7: “We made some additional progress this evening. I think the staffs of both the House and the Senate, as well as the White House staff, have been working very hard to try to narrow the differences. We made some progress today. Those differences have been narrowed, and so, once again, the staff is going to be working tonight around the clock in order to see if we can finally close a deal.

“But there is still a few issues that are outstanding. They’re difficult issues. They’re important to both sides. And so I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism. But I think we are further along today than we were yesterday.”