Reporters are used to getting e-mails from the White House which are often titled, "Readout of the President's call" with a world leader or some important figure related to a major news story. So it was something different to get one of those from Speaker John Boehner's office.
And it was something different to see that it was about a phone call between the Speaker and the President.
While the White House said nothing official about the call, the Speaker's office obviously decided it wanted to push back against President Obama's assertion at a Thursday news conference that he had not seen any job plans from Republicans in Congress, part of his attack line that the GOP isn't serious about doing anything on jobs, and is just frustrating his own efforts.
Here is the Speaker's release - like I said - not a normal kind of thing to get in your inbox.
Readout of the Speaker’s call with President Obama
WASHINGTON, DC – This afternoon, President Obama called Speaker Boehner to congratulate him on passing the three free trade agreements. After they discussed trade, the Speaker brought up the President’s remarks today about “not having yet seen” a GOP plan for job creation, and respectfully challenged the President’s assertion. “I want to make sure you have all the facts,” the Speaker told the President. The Speaker reminded the President that House Republicans put forth a ‘Plan for America’s Job Creators’ in May, and noted that he and other members of the GOP leadership team have spoken with the President and his staff about the plan and referenced it on numerous occasions, in letters and elsewhere.
The Speaker told the President that when he sent his jobs plan to the Hill, Republicans pledged to give it consideration, and have done so. The President was reminded of a memo written by GOP leaders outlining the specific areas where they believe common ground can be found. The Speaker also noted that a number of the President’s ideas have already been acted on in the House, including a veterans hiring bill, trade agreements, and a three percent withholding bill approved by the Ways & Means Committee today that will be considered on the House floor this month. They also discussed transportation and infrastructure, and the Speaker expressed his desire to do something on the issue, but to do it in a fiscally-responsible way.
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