Greg Sargent (Washington Post): I keep reading in various places that all those losers on the left are absolutely outraged that Obama sold them out by giving what’s widely being described as an “olive branch” speech today to the Chamber of Commerce. But judging by the AFL-CIO’s response, it seems some liberals actually are pleasantly surprised by how he handled it.
AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale emails a list of the passages from Obama’s speech the AFL-CIO liked, where Obama seemed to challenge the Chamber to live up to its responsibilities to America and the American worker:
Obama’s reminder to business that they have a responsibility to America, that they can’t just worry about shareholders and the bottom line… that there are important regulations …. that changes in the tax code need to benefit everyone (go to link for speech extracts)
….labor types didn’t expect, and were cheered by, Obama’s defense of government regulation, the emphasis on reforming the tax code so it benefits everyone, and the insistence that corporations need to ask themselves what they can do for America and its workers.
….the speech wasn’t exactly FDR telling “organized money” that he “welcomes their hatred,” but Obama did give folks on the left more than the media previews in the lead-up to the speech might have led you to expect.
Full article here
White House.gov