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Bourdin 2012 : Marine Le Pen

House Republican leaders sent President Obama a letter today asking him to send his proposed jobs bill to them as soon as possible so that it can be priced by the Congressional Budget Office and set for public hearings.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other Republican leaders also suggested that the bill -- with a White House-estimated cost of $447 billion -- be split up into separate components.

"We share your desire for bipartisan cooperation, and assume that your ideas were not presented as an all-or-nothing proposition, but rather in anticipation that the Congress may also have equally as effective proposals to offer for consideration," said the Republican letter.

The letter included both pledges to bipartisanship, and warnings that the House Republican majority has its own ideas about how to best create jobs.

"While we have a different vision in terms of what is needed to boost private-sector job creation in our country, we believe your ideas merit consideration by the Congress, and believe the American people expect them to be given such consideration," the letter said.

In his speech last night to a joint session of Congress, Obama said his $447 billion jobs package includes a series of tax cuts to spur hiring, infrastructure projects to create construction work and extended assistance to the unemployed.

Obama also said he would submit the bill to Congress next week.

The GOP letter in full:

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for your address to a Joint Session of the Congress last night, and for presenting your ideas. We believe creating long-term, sustainable jobs must be the top priority for elected leaders of both parties, and it is our desire to work with you to find common ground on steps that can be taken to allow our economy to grow and to create those jobs. While we have a different vision in terms of what is needed to boost private-sector job creation in our country, we believe your ideas merit consideration by the Congress, and believe the American people expect them to be given such consideration.

We look forward to receiving legislative text for any of your ideas in a manner that can be scored by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and to the upcoming speech you described last night in which you will detail the offsets that will be needed to ensure your proposals are paid for.

The House and our committees will immediately begin the process of reviewing and considering your proposals. We will examine the impact of your proposals on both short and long term economic growth and we will identify modifications and additional ideas that could achieve economic and job growth in a manner that may be more impactful or effective. For instance, these ideas could include elements of the multiple bills passed by the House earlier this year to remove government barriers to private-sector job creation that are currently awaiting action in the Senate.

In addition, the House will continue with the jobs agenda outlined last month which among other things would provide relief to our nation's job creators -- especially small businesses -- from the high costs of some of your Administration's pending regulatory actions.

As we are certain your advisors have told you, not all your ideas should be packaged in a single legislative vehicle. For instance, due to the structure of Trade Promotion Authority procedures, passage of the free trade agreements with our allies -- Colombia, Panama and South Korea -- is better achieved moving as stand-alone legislation. We again ask that you send those agreements immediately to the Congress for our consideration and approval.

We share your desire for bipartisan cooperation, and assume that your ideas were not presented as an all-or-nothing proposition, but rather in anticipation that the Congress may also have equally as effective proposals to offer for consideration.

The American people expect us to bring together the best of both parties' ideas, and it is our desire to work together to find common ground between your ideas and ours. The House is committed to working with our Senate colleagues and your administration to confront our nation's economic and employment challenges.

DALLAS – A decade after the terrorist attacks that defined his presidency, George W. Bush said he doesn't regret any decisions he made after 9/11, including the war with Iraq and the use of controversial interrogation techniques that some considered torture.

Asked if he believes those polices — including the USA Patriot Act, which widened government access to Americans' communications and records — prevented another attack, he said, "Yes, I do."

"Some of the tactics could have been different" in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was deposed, Bush said in an interview with USA TODAY. "Same with Afghanistan, same with the terrorist surveillance program" that eavesdropped on suspected terrorists' international communications.

Still, he said, objective historians will conclude his policies "were necessary in order to protect the country."

Bush said the events that led to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May began during his administration.

"The work that was done by intelligence communities during my presidency was part of putting together the puzzle that enabled us to see the full picture of how bin Laden was communicating and eventually where he was hiding," he said. "It began the day after 9/11."

Saturday, Bush and his wife, Laura, will lay a wreath at the Pentagon and speak at the dedication of the Shanksville, Pa., memorial to Flight 93. Sunday, he'll attend the New York 9/11 ceremony.

Bush said he is concerned the nation is "becoming isolationist" and will "grow weary to the point where we say it doesn't matter" whether young democracies survive.

"Democracies, when they take hold, yield peace," Bush said. The Middle East "is the part of the world that needs peace, and we'll be successful — unless, of course, we quit," he said. "My concern is that isolationist tendencies … cause America to retreat from the world."

Except for his wedding and twin daughters' birth, he said, 9/11 was "the most profound moment" of his life: "It will always be vivid."

Bush also shared his thoughts on:

•What he remembers most about that day after he learned of the attacks in a Sarasota, Fla., second-grade classroom. "I, of course, remember (White House Chief of Staff Andy Card) whispering in my ear. I remember the faces of the children. … It was a moment of clarity because people were going to watch how I reacted, and I had enough experience with crises to understand that if you're head of an organization, it's important to project calm in the initial stages of a crisis."

•His first thoughts. "The key thing that I tried to do was to say let's gather facts so we know what's happening. The problem that I faced — and the truth of the matter is, many in my administration faced — was during certain moments during the day, there was a fog of war, and the information flow was just really inaccurate. … We needed to take steps to make sure that the attack was a four-plane attack, not a 10-plane attack. We just didn't know. … My mind eventually became focused on finding out who did it and seeking justice, but initially it was respond and prevent."

•Watching on TV as thousands of Americans died. "There were moments when I said I'd like to be alone and just thinking through the ramifications and making sure that my thoughts were clear. I prayed for the victims. I prayed for our country. I would see people jump off buildings, and it just was horrific, but I was also determined to lead the country."

•His televised remarks from Florida and Louisiana. "The first two statements were on the fly. I didn't realize I had missed the mark. … I just did the best I could do given the circumstances, but obviously it wasn't the best setting for a president to try to calm the nerves of the country. I wanted to speak from the Oval Office. I wasn't going to address our nation from a bunker. It would have been a huge psychological victory for the people who attacked."

•What he learned about himself. "The job of the president was to say here are the facts, here's what we're dealing with, and deal with them. Not to feel sorry for yourself, or not to say why did it happen under my watch? That's not a leadership trait that is admirable. … I felt like I had the capacity to deal with the crisis, and you don't know until it happens. When I look back on it, I don't feel a sense of being overwhelmed."

•Whether he wishes he had done anything differently. "Not that I can think of. I mean, I think the response, laying out tools so that future presidents can have a better chance to protect the country, it's a legacy that I hope historians will say, 'It's a good legacy: He used tools that he thought were necessary and then he helped work with the Congress to codify them, so future presidents, if they so choose, can use those tools.' "

•The night of 9/11, when an erroneous report of an incoming enemy aircraft prompted Secret Service agents to move him and Laura Bush from their bed to the White House's underground bunker. "My mind was just churning over the events, the response, the information that had been given through a variety of National Security Council meetings. … And then just as I was kind of dozing off, (a Secret Service agent said) 'Mr. President,' and off we go. I had the T-shirt on and the running shorts and grabbed Laura, who didn't have her contacts on, grabbed (dog) Barney. We must have been looking like a motley crew as we headed down. … It was almost surreal, these big pneumatic doors as you're heading into the bowels of the White House, guys in black uniforms and guns.

"I didn't want to sleep down there because I knew I needed to be rested for the next day, and the bed looked horrible. Harry Truman must have bought the bed. It was one of those pullouts with a metal bar in the middle. I was envisioning Laura and I kind of fighting for the soft space."