In face-to-face meeting, Obama urges Republicans to work with him on taxes, health, budget

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Face to face, Obama urges GOP to work with Dems

BALTIMORE — President Barack Obama urged Republican lawmakers Friday to work with Democrats on job-creation proposals and other initiatives, decrying sharp partisan splits and “the politics of no” that have divided Congress into warring camps.

“I don’t think the American people want us to focus on our job security, they want us to focus on their job security,” Obama told a gathering of House Republicans in Baltimore.

The president acknowledged that Republicans have joined Democrats in some efforts, such as sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But he said he was disappointed and perplexed by virtually unanimous GOP opposition to other programs, such as the $787 billion economic stimulus bill enacted a year ago.

He also noted overwhelming Republican opposition to his proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care, which now is in legislative peril. Obama said he would gladly look at better ideas, but he urged Republicans to acknowledge the difficulties that many Americans face in obtaining good health care.

Obama said it makes ideological sense for Democrats and Republicans to work together on some issues such as charging fees to banks that benefited from a federal bailout, temporarily freezing some government spending, keeping jobs from being exported and paying for new government programs when they are created.

Republicans have sharply criticized Obama’s approach to most of these issues.