Obama Comments on Budget Overheard

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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April 15, 2011

Obama Comments on Budget Overheard

In what he thought was a private chat -- but was overheard by CBS News -- President Obama offered "the most revealing behind-the-scenes account to date of his budget negotiations with GOP leaders last week."

Specifically, Obama complained of GOP attempts to kill parts of his health care reform law: "You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We'll have that debate. You're not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we're stupid? ... Put it in a separate bill. We'll call it up. And if you think you can overturn my veto, try it. But don't try to sneak this through.'"

On the GOP's 2012 budget: "When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant ... This is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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April 15, 2011