President Obama will hold a series of events in the coming days to highlight the consequences of the government shutdown.
The events will hammer home the White House’s argument that it is Republicans who are preventing the government from reopening, White House aides say. They will also portray Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as unwilling to buck a “faction” of the Republican caucus.
On Thursday, the president will appear at a local construction company that has benefited from federal loans. While there, he will highlight the real-world consequences of a shutdown, while casting blame for the crisis at the feet of House leadership.
The speech will follow a meeting Wednesday between Obama and top corporate executives, intended to force the hand of Republicans and pressure them to come to the table with a deal.
In the White House press office, officials normally devoted to spinning the president’s message picked up some of the grunt work — like shepherding reporters across the White House grounds and placing the president’s remarks on his podium — usually reserved for now-furloughed low-level staffers.
The White House’s Twitter feed even promoted the wrong time for Obama’s remarks, more indication of the behind-the-scenes strain.
Most of the White House’s 438-member staff was deemed nonessential and sent home by midday, with only 129 staying at work. In the White House residence, only 15 of the 90 staffers were not furloughed.
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There is a concern among White House officials that if Democrats accept a continuing resolution that includes concessions to the Tea Party, those House members would feel even more emboldened before fights over the debt ceiling or a funding bill that covers the entire year.
The White House is also betting that House Republicans will feel pressured to give in over the course of the next few days, according to the former administration official
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/326009-obama-schedules-events-to-hammer-boehner-on-shutdown#ixzz2gYpfCed1I suppose his whiny butt will be all over television in the next few weeks, but I can see how he would be upset. The White House has to make do with only 129 staffers./s
I am so sick of his name calling and partisan hatred.
