Obama Defends Himself Vs Accusations Of Losing “Core Principles”

President Obama was asked if he is compromising his core principles because of the tax deal with Congress. His answer is worth noting (via Plum Line).

This notion that somehow we are willing to compromise too much reminds me of the debate that we had during health care. This is the public option debate all over again. I pass a signature piece of legislation where we finally get health care for all Americans. Something that Democrats have been fighting for for a hundred years. But because there was a provision in there that they didn’t get, that would have effected maybe a couple of million people, even though we got health insurance for 30 million people, and the potential for lower premiums for maybe 100 million people, that somehow that was a sign of weakness, of compromise.

If that’s the standard by which we are measuring success or core principles, then let’s face it: We will never get anything done. People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position, and no victories for the American people. And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are and how tough we are.

And in the meantime the American people are still saying to themselves, [I’m] not able to get health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. Or not being able to pay their bills because their unemployment insurance ran out. That can’t be the measure of how we think about public service. That can’t be the measure of what it means to be a Democrat. This is a big, diverse country. Not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people…

This country was founded on compromise. I couldn’t go through the front door at this country’s founding. If we were really thinking about ideal positions, we wouldn’t have a union.

At one point, Obama compared Republicans to “hostage takers,” saying, “I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers, unless the hostage gets harmed… In this case the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.