Notes

He wanted Congress to immediately pass a massive spending bill that would stimulate the economy.

PHIL SCHILIRO, Obama Adviser:
He was told that we were on a cliff, about to fall into a depression. He had to do something big, and he had to do it─ he had to do it quick. He had to act right away.

NARRATOR:
And he saw an opportunity to persuade the Republicans to join him.

PETE ROUSE, Obama Adviser:
President Obama felt that the nature of the problems were so severe and so significant and so consequential that he could find some way to work better with the Republicans in Congress to try to find some common ground.

NARRATOR:
But as he met with Republican leaders to sell his stimulus bill, he discovered that minority whip Eric Cantor had his own ideas.

ERIC CANTOR:
I asked the president, “With all due respect, could I distribute a white paper” that I had come up at his request because he said “Bring us your ideas.”

NARRATOR:
To the new president, determined to work with Republicans, it seemed reasonable.

ERIC CANTOR:
And I’ll never forget what the president said. He looked at it, and he says, “Well, I don’t want to get into all this now.” But he took a look at it and he says, “Well, there’s nothing crazy in here.” So I took that as a really good sign.

NARRATOR:
But the president’s staff, experienced in the ways of Washington, didn’t trust Cantor.

PHIL SCHILIRO:
Congressman Cantor wanted to dictate what the package would be. The Republicans weren’t interested in reaching a compromise with the president. If they could get 100 percent of what they wanted, they’d be happy. But if they couldn’t get 100 percent of what they wanted, they didn’t want any part of it.

NARRATOR:
Obama delivered the news to Cantor. They weren’t going to go along with everything he wanted.

ERIC CANTOR:
And we had an exchange, the president and I, and the president said, “Look, Eric, let me just tell you right up front. You know, the elections have consequences, and I won. So we’re going to do it my way.” And I think that that was an indication to me that this was going to be a one-way street. We really weren’t going to be engaged in this mutual discussion here of a collaborative approach to solving problems.

NARRATOR:
The president decided he’d make his own Republican─ friendly proposal, nearly $300 billion in tax cuts as part of the stimulus.

PETER BAKER:
And you know, it was an example of how Obama again and again would propose things he assumed that Republicans should like, rather than actually trying to talk to them in a way that got what they really wanted.

NEWSCASTER: