After some delay, President Obama this morning will finally sit down with congressional leaders from both parties for — well, about an hour. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the meeting is likely to focus on tax cuts and START.
The original plan was for a meeting followed by dinner in the White House residence, earlier this month. Republicans asked to reschedule and the whole thing got scaled way back. Notes Politico:
So what can you reasonably get done in one hour? Not much. As soon as the White House announced the bipartisan sit-down, right after the election, it was forced into a defense crouch against claims it was a photo-op. And duly noted: Roll Call points out that there is still no coherent agenda for the lame-duck session of Congress.
In other words: Move along, nothing to see here.
