Obama: Reporters tell me my ideas are ‘great’

President Obama said reporters praise his economic proposals as “great” and tell him they are “all good ideas.”

Obama made the remarks in a speech Wednesday in Galesburg, Ill., focused on the economy.

{mosads}The address didn’t include any new proposals on the economy, and Republicans criticized Obama for giving an address that was more of the same.

But Obama said the news media often praises his ideas.

“It’s interesting, in the run-up to this speech, a lot of reporters say that, well, Mr. President, these are all good ideas, but some of you’ve said before; some of them sound great, but you can’t get those through Congress. Republicans won’t agree with you,” Obama said.

Obama argued some Republicans privately agree with a lot of his ideas.

“I know because they’ve said so. But they worry they’ll face swift political retaliation for cooperating with me,” he said.

“Now, there are others who will dismiss every idea I put forward either because they’re playing to their most strident supporters, or in some cases because, sincerely, they have a fundamentally different vision for America — one that says inequality is both inevitable and just; one that says an unfettered free market without,” Obama said.