GOP not sole source of Obama's woes

At the invitation of Ms. Judy Arenas (Aug. 20 Your Views), I Googled the above to find the source(s) of information to support her allegation that Republican legislators met that evening to pledge to "bring Congress to a standstill regardless of how much it would hurt the American economy by pledging to obstruct and block President Obama on all legislation."

I found the first two sources were The Daily Kos and The Huffington Post. The third source was a PBS interview with Frank Luntz, a Republican-leaning pollster who hosted the dinner. His version is much different.

Luntz confirms that the dinner took place and all of the attendees are those listed by the other two sources. He said the Republicans were demoralized following their overwhelming defeat at the polls the previous November and the purpose of the meeting was to design a strategy to take back the House and Senate in the 2012 midterm elections. Part of that strategy was to challenge President Obama on any proposed legislation that was in conflict with the Republican's commitment to a smaller federal government, lower taxes and ultimately, a balanced budget.

For the next two years both houses of Congress and the presidency would be controlled by the opposition party. The Republicans had no power to obstruct or block the president on anything. The best evidence to support this argument was the passage of Obamacare, legislation that did not receive a single Republican vote.

So Ms. Arenas, believe if you will that the Republican Party is the sole cause of President Obama's inability to create a robust economy, increase the labor participation rate and garner respect from our allies and enemies around the world. I suspect a majority of American voters will disagree with you in November.

David Carrell

Campton Hills