Obama praises ‘compromise’ spending bill

President Obama on Friday praised the $1.1 trillion spending package that passed the House Thursday night, saying the bill is by no means perfect but is the best he could’ve hoped for with a divided Congress.

“This by definition was a compromise bill. This is what is produced when you have a divided government that the American people voted for,” the president said during a meeting with Cabinet officials on the international Ebola crisis.

Mr. Obama and his staff called and visited with wary Democrats Thursday night, encouraging them to support the legislation despite heavy resistance from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other liberals in Congress.

The measure has come under fire from both the left and the right, and while Mr. Obama has clear issues with the package — including provisions rolling back some parts of campaign-finance and Wall Street reform laws — he issued a full-throated endorsement to help avoid a government shutdown.

“There are a couple provisions in this bill that I really do not like. On the other hand, there is funding within this bill that makes sure we can continue to make progress in providing health insurance to all Americans, make sure that we continue with our efforts to combat climate change, that we’re able to expand early childhood education in terms of making a meaningful difference in communities all across the country, that allows us to expand our manufacturing hubs that are contributing to the growth of jobs and the progress we’ve seen in our economy over the last couple of years,” the president said. “And so, overall, this legislation allows us to build on the economic progress and the national security progress that’s important.”