[jsmith0295]

That is really not true given the full history of things. Most Republicans were very willing to compromise after Obama first took office, but he elected to completely ignore them instead since he had a super majority. At that point the only thing they had left to do was to be obstructionist, and I'm sure he was very aware of the potential political consequences of jamming legislation through in the beginning of his administration. In my opinion, the attempts at being bipartisan later were just political showmanship. Similar to how the Republicans voted to repeal Obamacare repeatedly even though they knew it would be vetoed. There was a lot of legislation that was voted on only because the knew it would get vetoed

[ejstronge]

I think we must have lived in two different countries following Obama's election.

The financial world was crumbling, and both parties recognized that drastic economic action was required.

Later, when Obama undertook healthcare reform - a project he had won both EC and popular support for - Republicans initially supported him. The Tea Party and the coming midterm elections pulled them to the right, and their success in 2010 left us with the obstructionism that we continue to see.

Related to the 'political showmanship' - if you recall the Boehner-Obama negotiations, I could hardly characterize that as showmanship. Representative Boehner risked his position as leader to try to demonstrate Republican cooperation but was ultimately drawn back by his party.

Overall, I read your comment as one that is supporting the 'Republican party line' without the context of following the events occurring during the Obama presidency. I would be keen to read any evidence you have in contradiction to the points I have raised.

[1] Here's an article describing the orchestrated obstructionism from the lens of 2012:

   - https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/biden-mcconnell-decided-to-withhold-all-cooperation-even-before-we-took-office/2012/08/10/64e9a138-e302-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_blog.html

[2] First, I should say that the individual mandate in Obamacare is fundamentally a 'Republican' (vs conservative) idea, having been implemented in Massachusetts and appeared in 'Republican'-leaning journals.

Second, there was Republican support for the ACA. You'll say 'no one' voted for the bill but the bill's signing was delayed as additions were continually made to appease Republicans who were on, the fence but eventually decided not to vote for the ACA. One Republican Representative did support the bill after it was clear it would pass. Indeed, there had been bipartisan efforts to create an ACA-like bill before the Tea Party pulled the Republicans to the right; see the third link.

   - http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/health-bill-earns-one-republican-vote/

   - http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll887.xml [See Rep. A J Cao's vote]

   - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/may/12/george-will/george-will-pegs-sen-bennetts-loss-votes-tarp-stim/

[jsmith0295]

Weren't those negotiations with Boehner mainly just intended to avoid sequester? That's a fairly unusual situation. Outside of that I don't recall anything, but I may have just not paid enough attention.

As for the party moving right, that's basically what I was referring to. Having been excluded from negotiations on legislation early on, with the stimulus bill and such, the Republicans became a unified opposition when many were initially willing and politically able to compromise. This is what made room for the tea party in 2010, which has been a big obstacle for them afterwards in my opinion. It's all sort of a lose-lose situation.

[spacemanmatt]

> since he had a super majority.

That doesn't explain the other 6 years pure obstruction.

[jsmith0295]

It sort of does. Having been pushed out of negotiations around things like the stimulus bill they ended up as a unified opposition, which resulted in the "tea party" and the party moving drastically to the right