Pelosi: Obama A Gracious Negotiator Compared To Bush

Although House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has been critical of the President’s willingness to bring entitlement programs to the table during debt talks, she took a moment Tuesday to compliment his gracious negotiating style.

“I couldn’t be prouder of his leadership,” Pelosi said during a press conference Tuesday. “I think this administration has done more to listen to members of Congress in a bipartisan way than anything I have seen before.”

The Minority Leader favorbly compared Obama’s presence in the negotiations to former President George W. Bush, recounting a White House meeting she had shortly after the 2006 midterm elections, wherein Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress.

“President Bush came into the meeting, didn’t sit down, said hello and before he said goodbye, he said ‘this is my package, take it or leave it,’” Pelosi said. “There is a vast difference there. This President has been open and willing.”

Pelosi’s remarks come one day after the former President’s birthday. According to the Washington Post, she marked the occasion by sending flowers with the note “Welcome to the Medicare Years.”