| Obama bumps up against egos in Congress |
| Monday, January 12, 2009 |
By Christi Parsons and Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
Now, as the incoming president moves into the details of governing and begins in earnest to try to revive the ailing economy, the question is whether last week's ruffled feathers have been smoothed and whether there are more tensions ahead.
Some clashes could be the inevitable stumbles of a new relationship. Others may reflect contending visions of how to do business, involving basic differences between the Obama viewpoint and what the president-elect refers to as the Washington way.
"I do see a culture clash," said Dee Dee Myers, a White House press secretary for President Clinton. "For a campaign that got kudos for being as well-run as Obama's, they probably thought they were going to come to Washington and continue with that successful framework. In many ways they have. But there's also a lot of acclimating that's going on too."
The week began with Obama antagonizing some influential members of Congress with his surprise choice of Leon E. Panetta, a former Clinton White House official, to head the CIA. Days before the nomination was official, word reached Capitol Hill, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was beginning her tenure as the first woman to head the intelligence committee.
She said she hadn't been consulted on Panetta and was thinking about opposing his nomination. The departing committee chairman, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), also raised concerns about the choice.
It was an inauspicious start to the week, coming with word that the Obama transition team was readying a massive tax cut component to his economic stimulus package to lure Republican support for the broader plan.
The tax cut strategy drew some pointed comments from Democratic lawmakers, who are less enthusiastic about tax cuts and suggested that their votes shouldn't be taken for granted. As they emerged from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee at midweek, several expressed skepticism about two tax cuts taking shape in the Obama plan.
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