Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) says he is willing to stay in session after Christmas to pass the stand-alone "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" repeal measure and other legislation. Levin says he doesn't see a similar "willingness" from the President to fight.
"The President needs to fight [and] say that he is going to use all of the power he has of a bully pulpit and urge the Senate to stay in, right up to New Years," Levin said on C-SPAN on Sunday. "That’s the problem that I don’t see that kind of a willingness to fight that hard, where he will take that kind of a position and that’s what’s necessary. The Senate and the House, these are tests of wills."
Meanwhile: At today's White House Press Briefing, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs "refused to say that President Obama would call on the Senate to stay in session until it brought up the stand-alone measure to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell," reports the Wonk Room. "Asked by The Advocate’s Kerry Eleveld ... why Obama has pledged to stay in DC until the Senate passed START but not DADT, Gibbs replied that the President would wait for the Senate to adjourn before leaving. Gibbs also refused to say if the administration was considering alternatives to legislative repeal."
Tick, tock. The clock is running down. Watch both videos AFTER THE JUMP ...
I would have to agree with Levin. I am a HUGE Obama supporter, however he has become very passive on so many issues and not displaying the ability to really FIGHT and be stubborn for what he promised or stood for during his campaign.
I just hope he remembers why WE put him in office. He really only have 1 more year to really prove himself if he wants to be re-elected. The time to show the FIGHT within him is NOW!
Posted by: DC | 14 December 2010 at 09:11