republicans play golf too

[RecycleMichael]

Since Gaspar is repeatedly freaking out about Obama playing golf (72 rounds in 30 months), I wondered if other politicians found time for golf. It turns out that they do, even playing with Obama.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-dc-obama-boehner-golf-outing-061711,0,6441015.story

WASHINGTON -- The president prefers a laid-back round on a Sunday morning. The Republican leader is a power player with a single-digit handicap.

For President Barack Obama, simply inviting House Speaker John Boehner to hit the golf links together speaks to his effort to court the Ohio Republican. The president's weekly outing is typically a closely guarded, contemplative ritual. Political figures are rarely invited. The president sticks to a quiet game with the same three staffers, all younger men and longtime loyalists. Small talk is infrequent and usually about the game they're playing. The conversation never veers toward government matters.

It's a striking departure in a town filled with political types who play golf as a matter of business and where presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton have used outings to woo a skeptic, make peace with an adversary or win a vote. But in Obama deciding to break his golf bubble, Boehner seems an appropriate choice. The two men are likely headed for many long negotiations as the White House and Congress try to seek a deal to reduce federal spending and also raise the U.S. debt ceiling by an Aug. 2 deadline.

The White House says Obama isn't expecting to reach an agreement in a round of golf, but he is hoping to improve the state of relations, nurturing what press secretary Jay Carney called "the potential for a better atmosphere in the room when important things are discussed and negotiated." Obama and Boehner have had limited opportunities to improve the atmosphere. The men had almost no personal relationship before Boehner became speaker, and their interactions since have been loaded with political baggage.

To be sure, Obama prefers playing golf as a way to release political pressure. He almost always heads out on Sunday mornings, rarely trading his nine or 18 holes of golf for a more overtly religious endeavor. On what was perhaps the president's most intense weekend in office -- when he had ordered a raid of Osama bin Laden's compound and was waiting for it to launch -- Obama went to Andrews Air Force Base for a round.

He was still wearing his khakis and white polo shirt when he went into the Situation Room to watch the raid unfold. It was his fifth round in two months. Obama does enjoy the game. Mark Knoller, a political reporter/savant who tracks virtually every aspect of the presidency that can be numbered, tallied 30 rounds of golf for Obama last year and 28 in 2009.

Despite all the practice, Boehner ranks as the superior golfer. Obama has a 17 handicap, while Boehner carries an index of 7.9, according to Golf Digest magazine, which recently ranked the top 150 best amateur golfers in Washington -- largely a list of lobbyists and old-timers. Both the president and the speaker are bringing a playing partner. Obama invited Vice President Joe Biden, who ranks 29th on the magazine's rankings. Boehner is 44th. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and close friend to the speaker, completes the foursome.

The White House won't confirm where the group will play, but two of Obama's favorite venues are the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va., and The Courses at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The republicans even find ways to have their political contributors pay for their golf...
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29881.html

By all public estimations, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a pretty good golfer. He should be, given the $82,998 his political action committee has spent on golf outings so far this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings. The golf events this year sponsored by Boehner's Freedom Project political action committee have stretched from April until October, from Florida to Ohio. And the minority leader doesn't hold his events at worn-out municipal courses. The most recent outing was a $20,921.34 event at the plush Robert Trent Jones track in Gainesville, Va., an invitation-only private club that was once also home to the Professional Golfers Association's President's Cup.

The highest expenditure was a September event at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. The Freedom Project spent $29,501.20 for an event on the course, which hosts the annual PGA Memorial Tournament. Another favorite of Boehner's PAC seems to be the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Fla., where the committee spent more than $30,000 in April and May. The Tiburon Golf Course, a 36-hole course at the hotel, also hosts a professional tournament each year.

The United States Golf Association lists Boehner as maintaining a 7.9 handicap.

[Townsend]

He'd normally respond with "exactly" or some bs.  Being disingenuous is spot on for politics so Gaspar would fit right in.

[Conan71]

I seriously doubt Boehner racks up a huge security tab every time he plays.

The implication isn't that President Obama is lazy.  Anyone with a brain realizes POTUS is a 24/7/365 job.  The implication is he's got an amazing penchant for blowing money like a member of the royal family.

[nathanm]

I seriously doubt Boehner racks up a huge security tab every time he plays.

The implication isn't that President Obama is lazy.  Anyone with a brain realizes POTUS is a 24/7/365 job.  The implication is he's got an amazing penchant for blowing money like a member of the royal family.

Does it really cost more for him to golf than it did for Clinton to jog through a McDonald's or whatever?

Also, both the Royal Family and Obama have been surprisingly frugal. The vast majority of Obama's so called massive governmental expansion is in increased expenses in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Unemployment, and other safety net programs. Discretionary spending isn't up much over the previous trend line, even with the stimulus. ($787 billion over two years isn't all that much, especially since half was tax cuts and not extra spending)

Yet another example of the media narrative being completely disconnected from reality.

[we vs us]

The implication isn't that President Obama is lazy.  Anyone with a brain realizes POTUS is a 24/7/365 job.  The implication is he's got an amazing penchant for blowing money like a member of the royal family.

I'm pretty sure the implication is that Obama is lazy. 

[godboko71]

Does it really cost more for him to golf than it did for Clinton to jog through a McDonald's or whatever?

It isn't a real dollar issue its a perceived issue. What is sad, no matter what he does on that issues its a loser. HE could pay for his own security or stop using his discretionary budget for trips, but then everyone would scream he was doing it for his own self interests and not for the nation.

At the end of the day he is having a similar image issue as Bush, asking for everyone to cut spending when he "doesn't." Is if fir he might need to cut a game or two out of his schedule no, would it help his image, even if there was no real savings, Yes. That said at the end of the day there is no winning so he might as well have these games to keep him focused the rest of the time. In a way we should be thankful to have yet another president who leads by example when it comes to living an active yet balanced lifestyle.

[RecycleMichael]

It has been reported that Boehner played 119 games of golf in 2009. More than twice a week or four times more often than Obama has played.

I guess gaspar doesn't care if the Speaker of the House congress plays golf. He never mentions oit but has posted frequently about Obama's game.

[Gaspar]

Why does it bother people so much that I comment on President Obama's golf game?

I have nothing against golf.  Played yesterday myself.  I think it's a great pastime, I just wish I had as much time to play as President Obama.

To take some time on the course to smooth out differences between the parties is a rather creative idea.  It beats a $10,000 tab for playing alone with dozens of secret service personnel tromping through the woods.

I am hopeful that they accomplished something and played a better round than I did this weekend.

Townsend, you really need to relax and do some breathing exercises or something.  I'd like to think that discussion is possible without vexation or name calling.

[Hoss]

Why does it bother people so much that I comment on President Obama's golf game?

I have nothing against golf.  Played yesterday myself.  I think it's a great pastime, I just wish I had as much time to play as President Obama.

To take some time on the course to smooth out differences between the parties is a rather creative idea.  It beats a $10,000 tab for playing alone with dozens of secret service personnel tromping through the woods.

I am hopeful that they accomplished something and played a better round than I did this weekend.

Townsend, you really need to relax and do some breathing exercises or something.  I'd like to think that discussion is possible without vexation or name calling.

ah...see what he did there?

[RecycleMichael]

He'd normally respond with "exactly" or some bs.  Being disingenuous is spot on for politics so Gaspar would fit right in.

You and Hoss are correct.

[Conan71]

Also, both the Royal Family and Obama have been surprisingly frugal.

Really?  Taking junkets to Spain, India, etc. with huge entourages, or flying the Presidential 747 over Manhattan for a photo op is frugal?

[Townsend]

name calling.

Descriptive, not name calling.

Proving my point works against you.  Heads up.

[Gaspar]

I think this game may have provided some positive compromise.  While I am against raising the debt ceiling, I am all for olive branches.  Perhaps we have found a venue where the two parties can come to some agreement.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress and the White House could raise the debt limit for a few months while they seek a comprehensive, long-term budget deal, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.
The Obama administration has warned it will run out of money to pay the nation's bills if Congress does not raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit by August 2 -- a prospect that could push the country back into recession and upend global financial markets.

Congressional Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives, have balked at raising the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by significant spending cuts.

McConnell said on Sunday the ceiling could be raised enough to last a few months so that negotiations can continue on a larger deal that would include changes to so-called entitlement programs like Medicare.

[we vs us]

I think this game may have provided some positive compromise.  While I am against raising the debt ceiling, I am all for olive branches.  Perhaps we have found a venue where the two parties can come to some agreement.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress and the White House could raise the debt limit for a few months while they seek a comprehensive, long-term budget deal, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday.
The Obama administration has warned it will run out of money to pay the nation's bills if Congress does not raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit by August 2 -- a prospect that could push the country back into recession and upend global financial markets.

Congressional Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives, have balked at raising the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by significant spending cuts.

McConnell said on Sunday the ceiling could be raised enough to last a few months so that negotiations can continue on a larger deal that would include changes to so-called entitlement programs like Medicare.

Nice.  Employers are going to TOTALLY love this whole prolonged-uncertainty thing.

[Gaspar]

Nice.  Employers are going to TOTALLY love this whole prolonged-uncertainty thing.

Yep!

The fact that Republicans seem willing to compromise temporarily is an indication that neither side is willing to embrace a lasting budget plan.  The Democrats want to kick the can down the street, and now the Republicans are willing to kick it half way there.

Now, if they let the Democrats start spending against it immediately (beyond current budgetary requirement), we are all screwed!