The president sat down with the LA Times and three former colleagues, IL state legislators, Republican Kirk Dillard, and Democrats Denny Jacobs and Larry Walsh, to further discuss the gridlock in Washington.
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President Obama served as an Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator prior to being elected to the Presidency in 2008. She said House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-22 District) and her opponent Jennifer Betino-Tarrant are a part of the super majority in Springfield that have fought against change that would benefit residents of her district.
Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder is among dignitaries at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport to greet President Barack Obama.
Obama was in the minority party when he began serving in the state Senate in 1997. “But you’ve got to make it happen”.
With Congress and Springfield stalemated and presidential candidates bragging about standing their ground, Obama said of that extreme partisanship, “when I hear voices in either party boast of their refusal to compromise as an accomplishment in and of itself, I’m not impressed”.
He got it after he got up to speak on a bill. “He should listen to the voices of people across the country and turn inspiring words into real reform”. James “Pate” Philip, approached him after his speech. “As all of you know, it could be better, and all of you would feel prouder of the work you do if it was better”. “That was my first lesson in humility”. Changing the tone is possible, he said, but it “requires citizenship and a sense that we are one”.
But, Earnest said, Obama doesn’t intend to be a “back-seat driver for running the state government of IL”, which is in its eighth month without a budget as a strongly Democratic legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner have not been able to reach agreement. “We voted against each other all the time…but those relationships, that trust we built meant that we came at each debate assuming the best about each other, not the worst”, he said.
OBAMA: In a big, complicated democracy like ours, if we can’t compromise, by definition we can’t govern ourselves. “We had a great bipartisan poker game”.
Obama visited Springfield, Illinois, to deliver a speech to the House Chamber of the Illinois State Capitol, and touched on a number of issues including automatic voter registration laws. It also expands early voting, which makes it much easier for working folks and busy parents.
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That was likely the one thing in the speech the rest of the country doesn’t care about. Republicans have seen a willingness to embrace coarsening conversation – Donald Trump has made a habit of using personal insults barely suitable for print. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is calling for political revolution fueled by animosity toward corporate interests.
