Kudos to Obama on his Congressional “press conference”

I think President Obama deserves an “attaboy” for his Q & A with legislators yesterday as he closed out the “fiscal summit” held at the White House.  What little blog coverage I’ve seen comes from lefties characterizing McCain’s challenge to new presidential helicopter costs as a sour grapes-style “cheap shot” or ridiculing Eric Cantor’s obsequiousness/civility (or somewhere in between, depending on your point of view), but I think the most significant aspect of the session is that it happened at all.

I would love to see congressional Q & A sessions written into the constitution. This is one thing I think the Brits really have right, as their prime minister is required to go before the House of Commons regularly to answer challenges.

This requires more than glibness or poise from the executive. It also requires the executive to be ready to come the substantive defense of the policies pushed by the administration.  Is there anybody who thinks that would be a bad thing, regardless of who is in office?

The exchange between McCain and Obama on the cost of the new helicopters ordered for HMX-1, the Marine squadron responsible for the president’s helicopter transportation is, I think, notable in itself for at least two reasons.  First, McCain advocated, during his campaign, a British-style procedure to have the president appear regularly before Congress, which I think suggests that his question wasn’t necessarily sour grapes . . . he was dishing out no more than he was willing to take had he been elected and his proposal put into effect. Second, part of Obama’s response was . . . dare I say it . . . Reaganesque:

“The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me,” the president said to laughter. “Of course, I’ve never had a helicopter before. Maybe I’ve been deprived and I didn’t know it.”

I have no problem envisioning those words rolling off The Gipper’s tongue.