AP: In face-to-face meeting, Obama urges Republicans to work with him on taxes, health, budget

Baltimore, Jan 30 - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (CP) –

In a sometimes barbed face-to-face encounter, President Barack Obama chastised Republican lawmakers Friday for opposing him on health care, economic stimulus and other major issues.

Republicans pushed back on taxes and spending, and accused Obama of not taking their ideas seriously.

Obama, attending the House Republicans' retreat in Baltimore, began with conciliatory remarks but soon became more pointed. He said a Republican-driven "politics of no" was blocking action on bills that could help Americans obtain jobs and health care.

He said major elements of the bills were based on proposals from former lawmakers in the political middle, including some Republicans.

"That's not a radical bunch, but if you were to listen to the debate ... you'd think this was some Bolshevik plot." Obama's most strident critics have accused him of supporting what they consider socialist policies they say would lead to government control of personal health care decisions.

Obama's meeting with the Republicans came two days after he appealed in his State of the Union speech for an end to Washington's sharp partisan rift.

But Republicans may have little incentive to co-operate with Obama. They have political momentum after last week's Massachusetts special election, in which they captured the Senate seat long held by a Democrat, the late Edward M. Kennedy. They view that vote as a referendum on Obama's policies, giving them hope for big gains in November congressional elections.

The Republicans sat attentively throughout Obama's speech and the discussion. There was some grumbling when he remarked - after being pressed about closed-door health care negotiations - that most of the legislation was developed in congressional committees in front of television cameras.

"That was a messy process," he acknowledged.

Several Republicans challenged Obama with lengthy complaints and sharp questions.

"What should we tell our constituents who know that Republicans have offered positive solutions" for health care, "and yet continue to hear out of the administration that we've offered nothing?" asked Republican Rep. Tom Price.

Obama showed little sympathy, disputing Price's claim that a Republican plan would cover nearly all Americans without raising taxes.

"That's just not true," said Obama. He called such claims "boilerplate" meant to score political points.

Republican Rep. Peter Roskam complained that some House Democrats have "stiff-armed" their Republican colleagues, leaving them out of the decision-making process. Obama says both sides are to blame for a "sour climate on Capitol Hill" and he's willing to help bring Republican and Democratic leaders together.

Obama also defended his economic stimulus plan, saying some in the audience have attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects funded by the stimulus package they voted against. Obama also questioned why Republicans have overwhelmingly opposed his tax-cut policies, which he said have benefited 95 per cent of American families.

"The notion that this was a radical package is just not true," Obama said. "I am not an ideologue."

The president acknowledged that Republicans have joined Democrats in some efforts, such as sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But he said he was disappointed and perplexed by virtually unanimous Republican opposition to other programs, such as the $787 billion economic stimulus bill enacted a year ago.

He also noted overwhelming Republican opposition to his plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system, a proposal that is now in legislative peril. Obama said he would gladly look at better ideas, but he urged Republicans to acknowledge the difficulties that many Americans face in obtaining good health care.

Obama said it makes ideological sense for Democrats and Republicans to work together on some issues such as charging fees to banks that benefited from a federal bailout, temporarily freezing some government spending, keeping jobs from being exported and paying for new government programs when they are created.

Republicans have sharply criticized Obama's approach to most of these issues.

Associated Press writers Stephen Ohlemacher and Charles Babington contributed to this report.