Obama wants Republicans to agree to eliminate tax loopholes enjoyed largely by the wealthy in order to help reduce the U.S. “Sometimes, I reflect, ’Is there something else I could do to make these guys - I’m not talking about the leaders now, but maybe some of the House Republican caucus members - not paint horns on my head?’” “I recognize that it’s very hard for Republican leaders to be perceived as making concessions to me,” Obama said.

He suggested that Republicans - who accuse him of continuing to campaign despite the election being long over - were driven, at least in part by entrenched hostility toward him still simmering after their election losses. McConnell, after the talks, called it “the president’s across-the-board cuts” even though both sides agreed in 2011 to have these “sequestration” spending cuts go into effect if Obama and lawmakers failed to fashion another deficit-reduction plan.īut with lawmakers either heading out of town or already gone, Obama used the presidential soapbox on Friday to hammer home his points. Republicans, for their part, insist Obama is exaggerating the potential impact of the cuts, but are seeking to avoid blame. He believes he’s winning the public relations war and that Americans will put the lion’s share of the blame on the Republicans for any economic pain and social hardship caused by failing to head off $85 billion in spending cuts due to start taking effect. Obama’s self-confidence - and his willingness to let things go over the edge, at least temporarily, in the latest fiscal battle - demonstrated what his aides have been saying for weeks. The president acknowledged that “this is not going to be an apocalypse” but he called the cuts “just dumb.”

Obama combined a reference to the “mind trick” sometimes used by Jedi on weak-minded adversaries in the “Star Wars” films with the “Vulcan mind meld” technique used by the “Star Trek” character Spock and others from his fictional planet Vulcan. The fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow do a ’Jedi mind-meld’ with these folks and convince them to do what’s right,” he said, while offering no new ideas for resolving the bitter dispute. Pressed on whether he was showing enough leadership - something Republicans say he has been lacking in the fiscal showdown - Obama mixed up his sci-fi references but made his point, nonetheless. So, ultimately, if (Senate Republican leader) Mitch McConnell or (Republican House of Representatives Speaker) John Boehner say, ’We need to go to catch a plane,’ I can’t have Secret Service block the doorway, right?” WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama, who said just days ago that he had no interest in playing a “blame game,” spent much of a news conference on Friday pointing fingers at Republicans after last-ditch talks with congressional leaders failed to avert automatic spending cuts from kicking in later in the day.Įmerging from a nearly hour-long meeting and taking the podium in the White House briefing room, Obama displayed a combative style that has become his regular approach toward opponents since his decisive re-election victory in November.Īsked why he didn’t just refuse to let congressional leaders leave the room until they had a deal, Obama told reporters: “I am not a dictator. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.His main catch phrase is 'Booweeoop' to give the impression of eerie sci-fi music sound and is said whilst moving his hands around in a circular motion often when 'Mind Taking'. During his time on Earth, Mentok has worked as a mufti, a genie, a sex trade worker, a Cossack, and an E.S.T. He also seems to enjoy patronizing people such as Inch High Private Eye and especially the courtroom's bailiff, while the bailiff usually just ignores him and stares forward with a blank expression.

Mentok's gavel is a brain on a handle, which squishes when struck. He often makes an entrance, such as appearing in a cloud of smoke or from a bolt of lightning. He has been given the personality of a cocky and flamboyant stage magician because of this, he often predicts the result of the cases he presides over before they have even started. He has various psychic powers including: teleportation, telepathy, hypnotism, precognition, and telekinesis - all referred to as 'mind taking'- but he rarely uses them for anything beyond sophomoric mischief. Was a former enemy of Birdman, but is now a judge who often hears Birdman's cases. Character from the Adult swim show ' Harver Birdman: Attorney at Law'.

Jedi mind meld meme