Rochester Today – Debating the ‘Open Letter’ to the Iranians

An open letter to Iran's leaders signed by 47 members of the U.S. Senate represents the latest chapter to the story of the dysfunctional relationship between the Obama administration and Congress.

Tom Ostrom and Andy Brownell debated the issue during Tuesday's Rochester Today show on KROC-AM.

While Andy expressed concern the Republicans might have "crossed the line" by publishing a message that appeared to be aimed at deterring the Iranians from negotiating a workable agreement to curb that country's nuclear ambitions, Tom effectively countered that President Obama had forced their hand by his contemptuous treatment of the Republican controlled Congress on this issue and others. Ostrom argued the president has repeated rejected input from Congress on relations with Tehran and the letter was needed to voice their opposition to the proposals reportedly being pushed by the administration to win an agreement with the Iranians. He also noted that Congress, then under the control of the Democrats, used a similar tactic to undermine President Reagan's policies toward the Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua in the 1980's.

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