Obama blames GOP for lack of bipartisanship

President
Barack Obama on Tuesday blamed Republicans for “sitting on the
sidelines” and not working across the aisle, even as he asked for “eight
or 10” of them to join him on immigration reform.

The president, speaking at a fundraiser in San Francisco, lashed out
at Republican senators just hours after meeting with them on Capitol
Hill, a meeting described by some participants as “testy.”

{mosads}On
immigration, Obama told the crowd that during the meeting he told
Republicans to “meet me a quarter of the way.”

“You don’t even have to meet me halfway,” Obama said he told
Republicans. “I’ll bring most Democrats on these issues. I’m just
looking for eight or ten of you.”

Obama lamented the lack of
bipartisanship in Washington, declaring: ““The day has passed when I
expected this to be a full partnership.”

The president announced Tuesday afternoon he was sending 1,200 additional troops to
the U.S.-Mexico border.

But on Tuesday
night, Obama said he told the GOP that “It’s not enough just to talk
about National Guard down at the border.”

“I’ll be with you, but you’ve got to meet me on solving the problem
long-term,” Obama said.

The president said he was “sympathetic”
to Republicans whose base, he said, doesn’t leave them “room for
cooperation.”

“There are members of their base who think if somebody even smiles
at me, they think ‘You’re a traitor; you smiled at Obama,'” the president
said.

Obama told a liberal crowd that he has proved he is
willing to make politically risky decisions that at times might have
hurt him with his liberal base.

“Some of the things I’ve done you guys are unhappy with,” Obama
said. “But what I said to them [Senate Republicans] is if I’m
comfortable with making decisions that aren’t always comfortable for me
politically I need you to make some decisions that aren’t always
comfortable for you politically. If they can do that we can get
immigration reform done. And it needs to be done.”

Obama was raising money for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

The president
spoke twice before attending a fundraiser at a private home. The events were expected to raise about $1.7 million, with $600,000
for Boxer and $1.1 million for the DSCC.