Senator Criticizes Obama's 'Audacity' In Using GOP As 'Props'

A GOP senator ripped into President Barack Obama at a meeting on Capitol Hill Tuesday, telling him he had “audacity” coming in and using Republican lawmakers as "props."

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the Democrats’ partner on Wall Street reform, criticized Obama during a meeting the president requested with the Senate Republican conference to court their support for the remaining initiatives on his agenda.

After the meeting, GOP senators said they appreciated the outreach.

But behind closed doors, the president faced a hostile crowd of angry Republicans, led by Corker.
“I said, ‘I got to tell you something, there’s a degree of audacity in you being here today,’” Corker said, recalling his exchange with the president.

“If you look at your three major initiatives they were almost all done on party-line votes,” Corker told Obama. “I feel we’re all props here today.

“Just last week you engineered a very partisan vote,” Corker added. “I would just like for you to explain to me, when you get up in the morning, and when you come over to lunch like this, how you reconcile that duplicity.”

“It hit a nerve, obviously,” Corker said, describing Obama’s reaction to the broadside.

Four people who were in the room said Obama bristled and defended his administration's handling of negotiations. Republicans have long complained that Democrats are using heavy-handed tactics to push though Obama's agenda.

On the way out, Obama approached Corker, according to the senator, who had been sitting just to the president's right, to press his case. Corker repeated his."I mentioned that there was a very large disconnect between what he was saying and his actions," Corker told reporters.

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[It's about time the Republicans came up with some testosterone -- Editor]