A lot of energy' in Obama's meeting at White House with liberal groups -

President Obama and the heads of several labor unions and prominent liberal groups met at the White House on Tuesday at an event that was more pep rally than negotiating session.

Obama and the participants largely focused on areas on which they agree: in particular, the need to extend low tax rates for the middle class while letting them expire for wealthier households, according to people who attended the 45-minute meeting.

There was much less talk about possible areas of disagreement between Obama and his progressive partners, such as on cuts to entitlement spending.


“The president has been very clear for quite a while now on the tax cuts on the wealthiest 2 percent — that they need to be eliminated,” said Dennis Van Roekel, the head of the National Education Association (NEA). “Of course, there was no disagreement in that room.”

The meeting was billed as a chance to discuss the best ways to move the economy forward while finding a balanced approach to reduce the deficit, and it took place as lawmakers and the White House wrangle over how to handle tax hikes and spending cuts that take effect in January.

The heads of four of the nation’s largest unions —the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the NEA and the AFL-CIO — were all in attendance. So were representatives from prominent progressive groups, including the Center for American Progress and MoveOn.

Obama will host a second White House meeting on Wednesday with business leaders including the CEOs of Ford, General Electric and Wal-Mart.


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