Speaking to an assemblage of reporters on Capitol Hill this morning, Republican Congressional leaders Eric Cantor, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell promised the nation they will under no circumstances cooperate with the newly reelected President Obama.
Boehner, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, pledged to a rabidly anti-Obama public that his party will do everything it can to sabotage the president's second-term agenda:
"Mitch, Eric and I would like to assure the American people that we plan on offering zero cooperation to the newly elected president."
"His margin of victory last night, frankly, wasn't all that impressive. And we've heard the American people loud and clear. They don't want this man to succeed, and neither do we."
Working...For Themselves
The hard line taken by Congressional Republicans comes as a surprise to many observers, who expected the party to cooperate more with Obama in his second term since he cannot stand again in 2016.
Eric Cantor, majority leader of the House, dismissed this idea:
"Some deadenders will say that our party has a duty to compromise with the president. That our country faces deep and growing challenges that require bipartisan solutions. That we should put aside our petty differences for the sake of the nation."
"I want every American watching today to know that we will not go down that path. If America wanted something to get done in Washington, America should have voted for Mitt Romney."
"The next four years in Congress are going to be about one thing: electing a Republican president in 2016. That's our promise to the American people, and its a sacred vow we intend to keep."
The Republican congressional leadership has been extensively criticized for their failures to enact meaningful reforms during Obama's first term. Congress's approval rating consistently polled below 15% during that period.
