the republican strategy. it s all short term. not saying what can we get out of this president that maybe we wouldn t get out of another democrat. or maybe we can t wait for a republican to add to say we re just going to take what we can, smash and grab and see what happens in the next election cycle. in fact, angela, you know from working the hill and running the congressional black caucus, the president was putting things on the table that many of us were outraged. were angry. that s right. and no matter what he did, they turned it down till we stopped getting angry at him because they weren t going to take it anyway. i mean, they would have probably weakened him had they accepted some of the things. because many of us were saying, no, don t give them that. it didn t matter what he offered them. they wouldn t take it. that s absolutely right. now here we are in a situation, a couple of years later, where their governors are taking it. they re welcoming the help from obama c
comprehensive immigration reform. it was known as the mccain/kennedy bill. democrats were for it. they were supporting it. but the republican party went against it and it died. ever since then, latino voters have fallen away from the republican party in significant numbers. they have to rethink that. now, you spent time meeting with the rnc chair, priebus. what are your impressions? i mean, tell us why and what you think he is really doing. what is this really all about? i think he s sincere in listening. but i don t know if that s going to translate into the kind of action that can be measurable immediately. i mean, you re talking about spending $10 million. that s not a lot of money when you re considering the need for a long-term strategy to deal with the issue of the relationship between african-americans and the republican party. it s going to take more than that. there s a lot of debate, and you have agreed you re going to appear at our national action convention this weeke
ceiling twice, in 2011 and 2013. refused deal on automatic budget cuts. tried to block key cabinet apoin toes. held up appointment of 47 judicial nominees. i mean, id be in hardball time if i kept talking about what they blocked. none of that was done with bush if it was something good for the country even though a lot of us were adamantly opposed to bush. people like ted kennedy said we have to work for the good of the american public. right. even if you drop the rhetoric about what s good for the american people, they know, republicans know, that this president, just take health care reform which they adamantly opposed. this president was giving them their party proposal back on a plate. that s not rhetoric. this was a republican plan for health care reform. when you talk about entitlement reforms, when they talk about entitlement reforms, this president has put them on the table. they should take a good offer when they see it. that s what s per plplexing abo