Week In Politics: Budgets, Gay Marriage And A Straw Poll
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin.
President Barack Obama spent much of the past week on Capitol
Hill meeting with Members of Congress. It was an effort to drum
up goodwill toward finding agreements on some of Washington's
long-simmering debates; chief among them the federal budget. But
Obama still has a long way to go.  For more, NPR's national
political correspondent Mara Liasson joins us now. Hi, Mara.
MARTIN: So the president held a series of private meetings with
both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. It's part of what has
been referred to in the press as a Charm Offensive. How has the
conversation been effective?  LIASSON: Well, the effort itself
has been well received. And that in and of itself is positive
because the president has been criticized - mostly by
Republicans - for not reaching out to Republicans enough, and
for spending too much time outside the Beltway campaigning for
his positions.  Of course, durin