Mr. President: You Can’t Say That On Television

On Thursday during a fundraiser in Chicago, President Obama was overheard speaking candidly to donors about the GOP’s battle over the budget and the recent almost shutdown of the U.S. Government. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know the tapes were still rolling.

While it’s likely Obama never intended for his words to be posted across the Internet and broadcast on television, his comments amount to the sort of thing everybody wants to say, but just doesn’t have the guts to repeat in a crowded room.

Anyone following the news can surmise that the Republican’s recent return to fiscal conservatism and an efficient government is a political strategy to block the president’s agenda and go after healthcare and services to women like Planned Parenthood (and yes, besides its small percentage of abortions, the organization gives low-income women important services like mammograms, pap smears and preventative contraceptive).

Of course, strategy equals politics, and there’s no doubting that. But in the meantime, Republicans may be undoing some much needed and vitally important services simply to gain political capital for 2012. If I were being truly cynical, I’d say their millionaire constituents wouldn’t miss those social services anyway.

Obama said the GOP’s strategy boiled down to, “Can we use the budget to chip away? They had a provision on repealing health care. They had a provision basically on repealing the EPA, they had a provision making sure we didn’t do anything on climate change…”

“This is going to be the strategy going forward, trying to do things they can’t do legislatively under the guise of cutting spending,” he added.

Obama said eliminating the healthcare bill would cost $1 trillion by adding it to the deficit, and he pointed out that many of the Republicans who are trying to be “responsible” today had voted for two wars, repeated tax cuts and a prescription drug bill – all unfunded – under the Bush administration.

“I said, ‘You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We’ll have that debate. But you’re not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we’re stupid?’”