During Milwaukee Visit, Obama Blames Republicans For Thwarting Agenda

President Barack Obama took some time during his speech in Milwaukee on Monday to blame Republicans in Congress for not passing many of his proposals on Capitol Hill.

The union members at the Laborfest event in Milwaukee seem to have accepted the president’s argument.

Obama said that in the last few years, his wins in Washington, D.C., have been hard fought.

“But, it was worth it,” he said. “Every gray hair is worth it … and at least I still got some hair.”

The problem, the president argued, is a lock-step opposition in Congress, particularly in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Rank-and-file union members attending the Labor Day speech seem inclined to agree with the president’s assertions. Patrick Ames, a member of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said Republican national and state lawmakers are disconnected from working people.

“They are the ones that are in the field doing all the work,” Ames said. “They can sit in their ivory towers and say that you’re doing things wrong, but until they come down and put their feet in the ground, they’re not going to know what’s really going on here, and that’s what we’re here for.”

Dan Carroll, of Milwaukee, is a former union member, and he said help for the president might have to come through the ballot box this fall.

“Well, he’s going to get it from people, and people banding together and people just showing up to the polls,” Carroll said.

However, most political analysts say the Republicans will keep control of the House and might win control of the U.S. Senate.

Susan Hietala, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier from Sheboygan, said change at the national level might be slow. So, she’s looking to Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race.

“(We’ve) got a lot of work ahead of us. We’ve got to the defeat (Gov.) Scott Walker, first of all,” she said.

The Republicans latest take on Washington might be spelled out Tuesday when Walker appears at two events in the state and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan speaks to the Milwaukee Press and Rotary Clubs.