President Obama Threatens Governors, Says They Will Hear From Him

Last weekend’s meeting in Washington, D.C. of the National Governors Association was covered as a genial meeting of the governors with President Obama. I believe I have heard it described as positive and constructive. As it turns out, and is now being revealed, those adjectives do not seem to apply. Not at all. What really happened is something that many of us have grown to expect from President Obama. He has his say about any given issue and tries to bully the rest of the room into submission. Some of the governors in the meeting have been polite about the tone of the meeting, but Texas Governor Rick Perry, as well as others, are speaking out against what they heard from the President.

US News – At one point during the morning meeting at the White House, the president even warned Republicans he would strike back if they complained about potential cuts to the National Guard.

“He said, ‘If I hear any of you pushing back, making statements about Washington spends too much money, you will hear from me.,’” recalled Texas Gov. Rick Perry during a news conference at the Chamber of Commerce following the meeting. “I don’t mind telling you I was a bit troubled today by the tone of the president.”

”He basically said, ‘Many people in this room have asked for cuts. Now you’re getting them,’” said South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. “He said, ‘If somebody questions it, I’m going to have to say something about it. It chilled the room quite a bit.”

You can see more of what Governor Perry had to say in the video below. Suffice it to say, many of the governors at the meeting were more than a little disturbed by not only what President Obama said, but the tone he used when he spoke.

From the earliest days of his presidency, it has been clear that President Obama does not like to be challenged. Go back and watch some of the exchanges between Obama and Paul Ryan over fiscal issues. The Wisconsin Representative showed, unequivocally, how incorrect Obama’s numbers were on the budget and ObamaCare, and it was clear Obama was riled up. There is every indication the recent meeting with the governors was of the same caliber. Except it doesn’t sound like the governors were given the chance to speak their minds. They were obviously there to listen to the President, not the other way around.

This is another result we are seeing from the Republicans inability, or unwillingness, to mount and effective challenge to Obama’s power grab. He does not believe in the limits placed on his office by the Constitution. Therefore, he pushes for more and more power. His threats to the governors sound more like Chicago politics than the words of the President of the United States. It has done nothing but get worse since Obama took office and we still have about three years before he vacates the premises at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. How much worse will it get before he finally leaves Washington?

For more on the threats from the President and how the governors are responding, see Right Wing News. They are especially displeased by Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s tepid response to the meeting with the President. I can’t say that I disagree with them.

Maggie’s Notebook is also talking about the governors’ meeting with the President, pointing out that all 50 governors, Republican and Democrat alike, signed a letter opposing the proposed cuts to the National Guard.