Obama Caught Griping About GOP Sneakiness

President Obama gave campaign donors a candid, insider account of the budget debate—apparently unaware that his microphone was still broadcasting his remarks to the White House press room. Obama told donors yesterday that Republicans had tried to slip their agenda into the budget bill, but he’d put his foot down, according to CBS Radio correspondent Mark Knoller. “I said, ‘You want to repeal health care? Go at it. We’ll have that debate. You’re not going to be able to do that by nickel-and-diming me in the budget. You think we’re stupid?”

Obama said he’d had the same reaction to the attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. “Put it in a separate bill,” he says he told Boehner. “We'll call it up. And if you think you can overturn my veto, try it. But don't try to sneak this through.” Obama said he expects similar shenanigans in the future. And he called out Paul Ryan, saying he was insincere about cutting the deficit, noting that he’d voted for a plethora of unpaid for Bush-era initiatives. (More 2011 budget stories.)