Post Register - Obama's Agenda, Outlined in Boise, Faces Trouble in House

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By Bryan Clarke

President Barack Obama threw down a challenge to congressional Republicans in the closing minutes of his Wednesday speech at Boise State University's Caven-Williams Sports Complex.

"Tell me how we get to yes," he said.

But Rep. Mike Simpson said many of the policies Obama outlined in the speech, as well as Tuesday night's State of the Union address -- policies such as making two years of community college available for free, and raising taxes on stock market returns while providing tax credits for middle class families -- are going to be tough sells on Capitol Hill.

"Those things that he's talked about, he won't get to "Yes' on those, frankly," Simpson said. "It's the typical, "Let's tax more so we can spend more.'"

Simpson, who is a close ally of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he heard four separate veto threats in Obama's State of the Union: additional sanctions on Iran, the Keystone oil pipeline, rolling back Obama's executive orders on immigration and repealing the Affordable Care Act.

All four are policies near the top of the GOP agenda.

"If he wants to get to "yes' on the things where we can work together, he needs to start working with us and stop threatening to veto everything we pass," Simpson said.

The theme of Obama's post-State of the Union tour, of which Boise was the first stop, is "Middle Class Economics." He argues that helping the middle class with policies such as guaranteed sick leave, increased job training and apprenticeships, affordable access to higher education and cheaper child care, will "restore the link between hard work and opportunity."

"We have risen from the recession in a better position, freer to write our own future than any country on Earth," Obama said Wednesday. "Now we've got to choose what future we want. Are we going to accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or can we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and opportunities for everyone who's willing to try hard?"

Obama touted the economic progress made since his first term in office -- unemployment falling dramatically, health care costs rising at the slowest pace in 50 years and the deficit declining by two-thirds.

"Wages are finally starting to go up," Obama said. "More small business owners plan to raise their employees' pay than at any time since 2007."

But Simpson said Obama is dodging a major issue crucial to Republicans: the national debt.

While the deficit has been dramatically reduced, Simpson said, the country has not begun to pay off it's almost $18 trillion in debt.

"We've got to get to a balanced budget and start paying down the debt before we find new ways to spend money," Simpson said. "I agree with him that college tuition is too expensive and college students have too much debt when they get out of college.… That doesn't mean we just say we're going to have two free years of community college. That's going to cost billions of dollars."

But Simpson also said there is some room for deal-making.

"I'm not willing to predict that it's all dead," he said. "I still think we can work together on a variety of issues that are important to the American people."

In particular, Simpson said, he believes Congress is eager to negotiate a transportation package that will fix the ailing Highway Trust Fund.

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