House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, had some words for President Obama about the president’s claim that he has yet to see a Republican plan for job creation.
The speaker, according to aides, “respectfully challenged the president’s assertion” when Obama called the speaker to congratulate him on passing the free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Columbia.
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Boehner then brought up Obama’s afternoon comments to reporters at a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
The conversation went something like this, according to a memo from Boehner’s office:
“I want to make sure you have all the facts,” the speaker told the president. The speaker reminded the president that House Republicans put forth a ‘Plan for America’s Job Creators’ in May, and noted that he and other members of the GOP leadership team have spoken with the president and his staff about the plan and referenced it on numerous occasions, in letters and elsewhere. ”
According to GOP aides, Boehner then told the president that the Senate has rejected his $447 billion jobs plan and that Republicans are working on passing those parts of the plan on which both sides agree. Boehner and Obama talked about transportation and infrastructure improvements, which Boehner said he was interested in addressing, but in a “fiscally responsible way.”
