November 19, 2012
When asked later about the comment he says, 'I believe in prayer when I go to church back home, and if a Buddhist monk is wishing me well, I’m going to take whatever good vibes he can give me to try to deal with some challenges back home.'
November 19, 2012
When asked later about the comment he says, 'I believe in prayer when I go to church back home, and if a Buddhist monk is wishing me well, I’m going to take whatever good vibes he can give me to try to deal with some challenges back home.'
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were given a tour of the Wat Pho Royal Monastery in Bangkok by Head Monk Chaokun Suthee Thammanuwat.
Will it take a higher power to resolve the “fiscal cliff” crisis?
President Obama quipped that he needed heavenly help to reach a budget deal with Congress before the year-end deadline during a tour of the Wat Pho Royal Monastery in Bangkok on Sunday.
Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were chatting with their tour guide, Head Monk Chaokun Suthee Thammanuwat, when the President was overheard making the comment.
"Yes we're working on this budget, we're going to need a lot of prayer for that,” he said, according to a White House pool report.
They laughed, but Obama later said that he wasn’t entirely kidding.
“I always believe in prayer,” he said when the joke came up during a press conference with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. “I believe in prayer when I go to church back home, and if a Buddhist monk is wishing me well, I’m going to take whatever good vibes he can give me to try to deal with some challenges back home.”
But he also offered reassurance that the deal will be made – even without an assist from above.
“I’m confident that we can get our fiscal situation dealt with,” he said.
Courtesy: NYDN
