Toomey to join Republicans dining with Obama
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey is among several Republicans scheduled to dine with President Obama in Washington tonight.
Toomey to join Republicans dining with Obama
UPDATED with comments from Toomey below
WASHINGTON -- Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey is among several Republicans scheduled to dine with President Obama in Washington tonight.
Toomey has been invited as part of an unusual outreach from Obama to rank-and-file Republicans. Obama has talked publicly about rallying a "caucus of common sense" as he tries to build support for his priorities, including a deficit reduction plan that includes a mix of increased tax revenue and spending cuts more targeted than under the sequester.
Toomey's planned attendance was first reported by the Associated Press and confirmed by the Inquirer. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham organized the guest list, according to a White House official.
UPDATE: Toomey and Obama spoke by phone Wednesday afternoon.
"I was pleased to accept President Obama’s invitation to dinner tonight. I am happy to work with the president if he is willing to work with us," Toomey said in comments released by his office. "He called me a short time ago to preview tonight’s discussion. There are two big ideas I stressed to the president this afternoon that I will repeat at dinner."
First, Toomey said, "in order to have the economic growth and job creation that we need, we must be on a sustainable fiscal path with long-term structural reforms of the mandatory health care programs."
"The second huge opportunity that I will stress with president Obama is that we must have tax reform in order to have strong economic growth and, as a result, more jobs. That means simplifying the tax code, wiping out preferences and lowering marginal rates for all Americans and employers."
Toomey has often been a fierce Obama critic, particularly on taxes and spending, but the former head of the conservative Club for Growth has also made an effort since the election to also show a more conciliatory side, sponsoring many bills with Democrats and largely praising Obama's State of the Union speech last month.
As the head of a Senate conservative caucus and member of the budget and finance committees, Toomey's voice is critical on fiscal issues.
In an interesting quirk of timing, after dining with Obama tonight he is scheduled to speak at the conservative Heritage Foundation at mid-day Thursday, in part to "talk about the President’s fear campaign" according to the group's Web site.
Other senators scheduled to attend tonight'sdinner include: Sens. John McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Roy Blunt, Rob Portman, Bob Corker and Ron Johnson, according to AP.
The dinner is scheduled for 6:30 at the Jefferson Hotel, weather permitting, according to the White House.
Dude never turns down a free meal.— carl and sons- What's "free" about it? Last time I checked, its all on the taxpayer's dime.
That's the problem with you liberals, you think everything is "free" or doesn't cost you anything.
I guess that explains why most people over 50, business owners and people with "skin in the game" are conservative.— Professor1982 - You should enroll in Taylor Swift's "How to Recognize a Joke" class. — carl and sons
- What? No Bob Casey?!?
LoL...he cant even get an invite to his own party's function, that hack.— Professor1982 - The NASI survey presented a menu of options. Here is the package of reforms supported by 71 percent of survey respondents:
- Gradually eliminate the cap on earnings that are taxed for Social Security over a 10-year period. That change would affect the 5 percent of all workers who earn more than this year's cap ($113,700).
- Gradually raise the payroll tax rate on both employers and workers over a 20-year period to 7.2 percent from 6.2 percent.
- Bolster a special minimum benefit intended to keep very low-income workers above the federally defined poverty line.
- Set Social Security's annual inflation increase, using a measure of consumer prices that accurately reflects the higher prices older people pay for healthcare - effectively, the opposite of a chained CPI.
- Keep Social Security's full retirement age at 67 (already the age for beneficiaries born in 1960 or later), and do not means test the program.
Very large majorities across every age group, political affiliation and income group said they would be willing to pay more to maintain current benefits: 74 percent of Republicans, 88 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of families with income over $100,000, 84 percent of baby boomers, 80 percent of Gen X (born in the 1960s to the early 1980s) and 77 percent of Gen Y Americans (born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s).
Fix Medicare and Medicaide by bolstering the Affordable Care Act with more regulations that do something about the cost of health care. Cutting benefits will do absolutely nothing. If nothing is done about the out of control cost of health care, we can't afford health care.
Also, life expectancy has not gone up for all Americans. It's skewed because of the longer life expectancy of the wealthy. The middle class and poor aren't living longer.— MikeP 
Instead of holding the dinner at the white house, King Obama rents out a hotel. I can see why these budget cuts are hurting the government so badly!
www.RecallBlondellReynoldsBrown.org- Aint that the truth. Bush vs Obama:
•Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then 14164.5; Now 14164.5
•Regular Gas Price: Then $2.75; Now $3.73
•GDP Growth: Then 2.5%; Now 1.6%
•Americans Unemployed (in Labor Force): Then 6.7 million; Now 13.2 million
•Americans On Food Stamps: Then 26.9 million; Now 47.69 million
•Size of Fed's Balance Sheet: Then $0.89 trillion; Now $3.01 trillion
•US Debt as a Percentage of GDP: Then ~38%; Now 74.2%
•US Deficit (LTM): Then $97 billion; Now $975.6 billion
•Total US Debt Oustanding: Then $9.008 trillion; Now $16.43 trillion
•US Household Debt: Then $13.5 trillion; Now 12.87 trillion
•Labor Force Particpation Rate: Then 65.8%; Now 63.6%•Consumer Confidence: Then 99.5; Now 69.6
•S&P Rating of the US: Then AAA; Now AA
•VIX: Then 17.5%; Now 14%
•10 Year Treasury Yield: Then 4.64%; Now 1.89%
•USDJPY: Then 117; Now 93•EURUSD: Then 1.4145; Now 1.3050
•Gold: Then $748; Now $1583
•NYSE Average LTM Volume (per day): Then 1.3 billion shares; Now 545 million shares— Professor1982 - Your stats are a cheap attempt at misleading folk, similar to FAUX Nuse. When Bush stepped into office, his spending went up 88% as opposed to Obama's spending which was a 7.2%. This included the stimulus which balanced the country financially. It's all a part of the Recovery from the Bush VooDoo economics.
— TopCat#1 - How are they misleading? They're fact.
Typical liberal trying to deny facts b/c they don't support their position. Like roaches under the spotlight.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-05/last-time-dow-was-here— Professor1982 - @professor1982 - ok, so what you're saying is that we need a big spender in the WH AND a Dem controlled Congress. Ok, got it. Thanks for those facts. — PRphillyphan17
- BOZO trying to bribe the republican's for higher taxes, and increased spending. BOZO THE IDIOT. Worst President in my lifetime which includes Jimmy Carter.— thomasg
- The POTUS will likely serve Horse Meat Pasta to the Republicans!— ricciaje
- Oh come on, that's not fair. We all know he's more of a dog meat kind of guy. — PRphillyphan17
- I'm sure he will lead the prayer, far-right religious fanatic that he is.— brio
Jonathan Tamari is the Inquirer’s correspondent in Washington, where he follows the Philadelphia area’s interests and representatives. Tamari comes to D.C. after two years as a beat writer reporting on the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL (where, a political source once told him, there are at least rules against hitting below the knees). He previously wrote about politics and government from Trenton, reporting on the characters and color of New Jersey state government.Jersey born and bred, Tamari now lives in the capital city, where he is looking for stories, places to run, soccer bars and good meals.
Reach him at jtamari@phillynews.com.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanTamari.
