by Republican leaders joined President Obama for lunch at the White House today, one week before the budget recommendations are released. The lunch invitation included House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and comes just days after a lunch shared by Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this past Friday.Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, explained that “the president will have a chance to talk through with them many of the things that he outlined in the State of the Union. I have no doubt that they have their cares and concerns as well.” He added: “I think the president, as you heard him say at the beginning of the lame-duck session, [believes] that we needed to better reach out and have those discussions. And I think this is certainly part of that.”A spokesperson for Boehner said that the Republican is “pleased to have an opportunity to speak with the president about our plans to reduce economic uncertainty and create jobs by cutting spending and breaking down barriers to private-sector investment.”
