Republicans invited Obama to appear at their annual conference; the president accepted — and then surprised them by asking that cameras and reporters be allowed into the room.
Republicans immediately agreed to the request, but they may be regretting it now.
Again and again, Obama turned the Republicans questions against them — accusing them of obstructing legislation for political purposes and offering solutions that won’t work.
"I've read your legislation. I take a look at this stuff. And the good ideas we take," Obama said. "It can't be all or nothing, one way or the other … If we put together a stimulus package in which a third of it is tax cuts that normally you guys would support, and support for states and the unemployed and helping people stay on COBRA, that certainly your governors would support … and maybe there are some things in there, with respect to infrastructure, that you don't like … If there's uniform opposition because the Republican caucus doesn't get 100 percent or 80 percent of what you want, then it's going to be difficult to get a deal done, because that's not how democracy works."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, who introduced Obama to his colleagues and gave the president a stack of Republican policy proposals, said afterward that the event had been “a good first step in having more of a dialogue.”
Arizona Rep. Jeff Flake said the event had helped his party by showing that Republicans have offered alternatives to Obama’s plans.
Obama rumbles with House GOP - Yahoo! News