[Weekly Standard] Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming believes President Barack ObamaB.O....
is "comfortable going off the [fiscal] cliff."
"I think the president is increasingly showing his hand that he is comfortable going off the cliff," Barrasso tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD, in response to a question about President B.O.'s negotiation strategy. "HeÂ’s not involving Republicans in the process. He was playing golf this weekend with Bill Clinton, Ron Kirk, and ex-DNC chair Terry McAuliffe. HeÂ’s not seeming to be one to work together. He seems to be lecturing more than listening. And I just think that itÂ’s increasingly clear he's comfortable going off the cliff."
The Republican senator believes Obama's posture is being reinforced by bad advice he's getting from some of his fellow Democrats. "[T]hat’s what he’s being advised to do by a number of his fellow wardheelers—Howard Dean, former chairman of the DNC said they should go off the cliff, Patty Murray
... Senator-for-life (D) from Washington state, reputedly not the sharpest intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body....
, who ran the senatorial committee, said they should go off the cliff," says Barrasso in a phone interview, referring multiple times to ObamaÂ’s weekend golf outing with Democratic stalwarts.
Barrasso thinks Obama should be working on getting a deal with the Republicans in Congress instead of spending his weekend on the golf course with such partisans.
Additionally, Barrasso believes Obama's willingness to go off the cliff relates to his view of achieving fairness through the tax code.
"The president is so fixated on higher taxes that heÂ’s giving up on [the prospect of] a healthy economy. WeÂ’re going to see unemployment over 9 percent in this second recession, I believe, if the president doesnÂ’t work together to find a bipartisan solution," says Barrasso.