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President-elect and House Republicans Bond Over Transparency; Biden Says Economic Crisis Means Congress Must Act As if "We're At War"

January 05, 2009 5:53 PM

Democratic and Republican sources tell ABC News that President-elect Obama's meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership of the House and Senate went well with some quick agreement on the need for expeditious action as well as oversight and transparency for the pending, yet-to-be-drafted multibillion dollar stimulus package.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, argued that public dissatisfaction with the Troubled Asset Relief Program money to help stabilize the nation's financial systems and the way it was rammed through the Congress demands more transparency and accountability with the stimulus bill.

"I agree with you," the President-elect said, adding later that he would "demand complete transparency and accountability in doing it." ·

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Vir., suggested said the bill should be put on the Internet a week before Congress votes on it.

Mr. Obama smiled and said something along the lines of, "maybe if I was better at faking it , I'd say, 'Great idea -- we'll take you up on that.' But we've actually talked about this idea."

Obama turned it over to incoming White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel who essentially said they would do the Republicans one better. They're planning a Google-like search function to show every program funded by the stimulus package, whether it comes in under or over-budget, whether it is meeting its intended purpose, and how many jobs it is creating.

"Tell you what," Obama said, "we'll still call it the Cantor idea."

A different note was sounded by Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who remains a senator, who pushed his colleagues to move quickly. Biden pointed out that Congress is perfectly capable of functioning swiftly when it needs to -- he cited the 9/11 attacks as an example when the House and Senate worked concurrently instead of first the House then the Senate. The economic crisis demands the same type of speed.

"We’re at war," Biden said, "this is that type of moment."

-- jpt

January 5, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (14)

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Someone should tell "Blood & Guts" Biden that if your at war, you need to identify the enemy first.

That means one of the first orders of business is to remove Barney Frank from the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

Posted by: Mike_C | Jan 6, 2009 9:52:52 AM

Plugs Biden declares war!!
That's a hoot!! This man is a TRUE coward and HE declares WAR!!
If the POTUS and VPOTUS were serious about this they would get to the bottom of who started this, who allowed this to continue and start tossing Congress and Senate BUTTS in the Federal Prison system and collect every penny back from those criminals!! Sell all their property and assets! Stop all the photo-opts and the posturing.....You all make me sick! It is way past time to bring those responsible to the table and make ALL (everybody) criminals confess and restore faith back into the system, be you Republican or Democrate!!

Posted by: commrat72 | Jan 6, 2009 8:15:18 AM

"We're at war" in our own country will help push that HR 393 through...and reduce the unemployment problem to boot!

And speed reduces the opportunity to scrape out the pork.

Sounds like politicians' dreams come true, and more like a nightmare for the rest of us every day.

Posted by: Laughing Cynic | Jan 5, 2009 9:29:05 PM

Oh so Rahm has a voice again. Thats nice to know.

Posted by: BertieW | Jan 5, 2009 8:29:14 PM

Does that mean everyone has to be afraid and must accept everything they say? I've already gone through that for the last eight years.

Posted by: Angry Black Man | Jan 5, 2009 8:22:27 PM

So now Biden has declared "war" o the economy! Well LBJ had a "war" on poverty, Reagan had a "war" on drugs... Looks like the ONLY Government does is create and subsidize problems INSTEAD of actually solve them. But why should they, since every problem gets thrown MORE of YOUR money at it! If they fixed it, they wouldn't have a JOB! Thanks BIG GOVERNMENT!!! Ugh!

Posted by: please! | Jan 5, 2009 7:54:09 PM

Somebody needs to remind Biden not to talk.

Posted by: Sluggo | Jan 5, 2009 7:33:46 PM

How about a new sitcon -- "Are you smarter than Odummer". Probably out draw the current fair.

Posted by: bill-tb | Jan 5, 2009 7:24:37 PM

How dare you people criticize the GREATEST PRESIDENT ever before he takes office!

Posted by: Holier Than Thou | Jan 5, 2009 7:24:19 PM

"The Cantor idea": Too funny!!!

Posted by: Cameron | Jan 5, 2009 6:46:39 PM

I'm sure Sarah Palin has a brilliant grasp of the problem and should be flown to the lower forty eight to offer her input.

Posted by: kat | Jan 5, 2009 6:26:19 PM

I agree with the Obamacrat. Barack Obama doesn't take on Washington politics, he takes on Republicans. He knew Gov. Blagojevich was selling his Senate seat, and he said nothing. When Gov. Murkowski bought a private jet for the Governor's office with taxpayer money, Sarah put it on eBay. Gov. Richardson was giving away state government contracts in exchange for campaign contributions, and in exchange for his endorsement in the Democratic Primary, Barack Obama nominated him for Sec. of Commerce. When Sen. Stevens brought home $300M in federal pork for the Bridge to Nowhere, Gov. Palin said "thanks, but NO, thanks." I'm a Democrat that supports Sarah Palin because unlike Barack Obama, she doesn't think her party can do no bad.

Posted by: Sarahcrat | Jan 5, 2009 6:18:33 PM

So Biden played straight man to some of the comic relief offered by Obama. They play off each other well.

Posted by: kat | Jan 5, 2009 6:18:08 PM

I used to support President Elect Barack Obama, but the Bush-Obama bailout is an outrage. Only George and Barack can call their record deficit spending "investments" "in the future." We the American people voted with our dollars to put General Motors out of business. The Untied Autoworkers Union makes $73/hr, $150K/yr for assembling vehicles, but when we, the American people, say "that's too much" by buying Toyota, and Nissan, and Hyundai, the United States Government says "noooo... if you don't buy their cars, we're going to give them your tax money." They don't deserve to exist. The UAW striked GM's only profitable factory, the Chevy Cobalt's, as soon as GM turned in a profitable quarter last year; by definition, they will never be a viable company, ever. And now Blue states want "federal" money because they can't keep up their spending. New York Gov. David Paterson (D), New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D), Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) just said they need $1T of "federal" money to "stay afloat," and by "stay afloat" they mean to keep up their frivolous spending. They spent and spent and spent, and now that they're out of money, they are asking the "federal government" to give them money, but ladies and gentlemen, what they mean by "federal government" is red states that actually lived within their means, states that spent no more than they tax. Now they want the "federal" government to send the message, if you spend too much, don't worry, we will take it from someone that saved. and if you don't spend like drunken sailors, if you actually save your tax revenues for a rainy day, like today, you're wasting your time, because the federal government is going to come in and take it from you anyways. and they call this unity: Red states make and Blue states take. This is the fight of our day. Palin '12. PUMA!

Posted by: Obamacrat for Palin | Jan 5, 2009 6:11:10 PM

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