CNN Whacks Republicans With Obama's Talking Point

CNN boosted President Obama's message on Thursday by taking his challenge to Republicans and pressuring them to get on board with a bill that would fund ObamaCare.

After the President called on House Speaker John Boehner to hold an up-or-down vote on the funding bill, CNN took that talking point and pressured Republicans to accept it. Anchor Suzanne Malveaux hailed it as a "very good point."

[Video below the break. Audio here [1].]

Here's what the President said on Thursday morning:

"There are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives today that if the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, simply let the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, every Congressman could vote their conscience, the shutdown would end today."

Later that afternoon, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux remarked that "The President brings up a very good point."

"He says, look, if Speaker Boehner simply brings this to the floor by our count, by Dana Bash's count, there are enough Republicans as well as Democrats to get this thing passed. Do you have any influence? What can you do or your caucus do to get Boehner to bring that to the floor?" Malveaux pressed Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.).

"Why doesn't the Speaker simply allow an up-or-down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on what's called this clean bill, without any references to Obamacare or anything else, just see what happens?" anchor Wolf Blitzer channeled the President's thinking.

Blitzer asked Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.):

"You know there's an easy way to get all of the government back operating. Just allow an up-and-down vote on a clean bill, as they call it, without any strings attached. That would pass the House, it would pass the Senate, the President would sign it, everything would be back to business as usual within a few hours. Why isn't that a good idea?"

Anchor Brooke Baldwin noted that the bill had gotten support from members of both parties, and asked "I mean do you not think he [Boehner] should –  he should put this vote on the table today? Why isn't he?"

Below is a transcript of the segments, which aired on October 4:

CNN
NEWSROOM
10/4/13
[10:58 a.m. EDT]

BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States: There are enough Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives today that if the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, simply let the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, every Congressman could vote their conscience, the shutdown would end today. The only thing that is keeping the government shut down, the only thing preventing people from going back to work and basic research starting back up and farmers and small business owners getting their loans, the only thing that's preventing all of that from happening right now today in the next five minutes is that speaker John Boehner won't even let the bill get a yes-or-no vote because he doesn't want to anger the extremists in his party.

CNN
AROUND THE WORLD
10/4/13
[12:24 p.m. EDT]

MALVEAUX: The President brings up a very good point. He says, look, if Speaker Boehner simply brings this to the floor by our count, by Dana Bash's count, there are enough Republicans as well as Democrats to get this thing passed. Do you have any influence? What can you do or your caucus do to get Boehner to bring that to the floor?

(...)

MALVEAUX: So, Congressman, I mean, how long does this go on, until there is some sort of movement or demand to get the Speaker to the floor to make this thing happen, to move this forward? I mean, he is the one person who can do that.

(...)

CNN
NEWSROOM
10/4/13
[1:31 p.m. EDT]

BLITZER: (to Huelskamp) You know there's an easy way to get all of the government back operating. Just allow an up-and-down vote on a clean bill, as they call it, without any strings attached. That would pass the House, it would pass the Senate, the President would sign it, everything would be back to business as usual within a few hours. Why isn't that a good idea?

(...)

[1:13]

BLITZER: Why doesn't the Speaker simply allow an up-or-down vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on what's called this clean bill, without any references to Obamacare or anything else, just see what happens?

(...)

[2:23]

BALDWIN: So you talk about Ted Cruz, you talk about some of his supporters. But at the same time, you know, it's been – it's been indicated through, you know, I don't know how many, a dozen or so other Republicans, who say, hey, let's put this clean funding bill, you know, to a vote today. The President, Jay Carney, both sort of hammering that home, why doesn't John Boehner do this? I mean do you not think he should –  he should put this vote on the table today? Why isn't he?