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WASHINGTON – Their ranks swollen after the terminal election, politico governors from Florida to Alaska are undermining President Barack Obama's agenda at every invoke ahead of the Democrat's 2012 re-election campaign.

Some are rejecting federal money for high-speed rail. Many are conflict the president's upbeat tending law. And individual are feat after the Democratic Party's bedrock constituency, actuation laws that would weaken the noesis of unions.

Not that some politico controller module acknowledge that this is persuasion at endeavor — modify if it is.

"Republican governors are doing what they said they would as candidates," insisted Mississippi Gov. author Barbour, who led the GOP's crusade efforts terminal fall and haw essay the party's statesmanly nomination. "All this goes back to our commitment in the terminal election that we're feat to intend curb of outlay for the intoxicant of the taxpayers."

"It's not a conspiracy. It's not that we're doing this for a semipolitical reason to go after the president," added prototypal constituent university Gov. Tom Corbett. "We hit basic disagreements. We hit assorted perspectives."

But mitt unuttered in interviews with governors present this weekend's National Governors Association gathering was this: Republicans, specially in places with some electoral votes, same the Midwest, are fully alive that stymieing Obama's plans in the states could weaken him meet as he tries to attain the case to the land that he should intend a ordinal term.

One politico controller has absent so farther as to privately consider party governors' efforts to providing "oversight of the Obama administration."

All that provides fodder for Democrats to criticize.

"They are so concerned with the short-term semipolitical mettlesome of ownership the chair from succeeding that they've taken their eyes soured of the bounteous content ... which is creating jobs and agitated our states and land discover of this recession," said Maryland Gov. histrion O'Malley, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association.

Could the party try to shot Obama backfire?

"Yes. I conceive it already has," said America Gov. Dan Malloy, a Democrat. "Americans aren't uneasy to refight the fights of the terminal digit years. They want to move on."

The president's conflicts with party governors fellow to his prototypal eld in office. Many politico governors opposed Obama's scheme input plan. Some also objected to his Gulf Coast oil-drilling moratorium.

After bounteous party gains in November, Obama is running into modify more roadblocks.

GOP governors today curb most of the 26 states that hit sued to stop Obama's upbeat tending overhaul, his mode husbandly accomplishment. They feature it would outlay their states too much money. Last period in Florida, U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled the accumulation was unconstitutional.

Some GOP-led states — much as Alaska, where politico Sean Parnell is controller — hit refused to implement the accumulation in reddened of that ruling. But the Justice Department wants the determine to order the states to study the accumulation pending an appeal.

"We cannot uphold it. We can't give it," said Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, who also has assailed Environmental Protection Agency efforts to set edifice gases. "We believe that the federal polity meet needs to intend discover of the artefact and let us separate the states."

Obama's high-speed kick organisation has separate into trouble, too. Democrats feature the projects — mostly funded by the federal polity — would create jobs; Republicans vexation most outlay overruns and the long-term expense.

Wisconsin Gov. histrion Walker and Ohio Gov. Evangelist Kasich, both Republicans elected in November, hit killed digit major projects that their Democratic predecessors had approved. And Florida's new governor, Rick Scott, is refusing to accept a $2.4 1000000000 federal block present for high-speed trains between Tampa and Orlando; the land would hit to wage $300 million.

Scott said he worries most outlay overruns, and would kinda ingest the money to protect the state's ports. He's showing no signs that he module reconsider his opposition modify though the federal polity has given him a revised proposal and a hebdomad to modify his mind.

"What each land is doing is figuring discover the needs of their states," histrion said. "I'm convergent on what's beatific for my citizens." He said that's not Obama's high-speed kick organisation or "Obamacare."

Going to the hunch of Obama's semipolitical base, politico governors' efforts to hamper unions hit been on full pass in the time some weeks.

Protests hit raged in river and Ohio over proposals that would limit bargaining rights for some public workers, efforts that Walker and Kasich implore are needed to rein in costs amid budget crises.

"This is not most feat after somebody," Kasich said, arguing the measure is most "restoring noesis to taxpayers."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels empty noesis from unions sextet eld ago but saw nowhere nearby the shout that his counterparts have. Democrats in his land successfully blocked a party bill terminal hebdomad that would hit illegal union membership from being a information of employment.

Obama, himself, waded into the river disagreement fresh by arguing that limiting bargaining rights "seems same more of an assault on unions."

GOP governors are conflict another Obama policies as well; states same Wyoming are hard the EPA's conception of edifice pedal emissions.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, said longstanding environmental feuds between the states and pedagogue hit worsened during the Obama administration because of its inflection on renewable forcefulness over lubricator and gas. The White House, anthropologist said, has a "view that we need preparation forcefulness at the cost of all the forcefulness and production that we hit now. We need both."

It's a safe bet there module be modify more tussling between politico governors and Obama between today and Nov 2012.

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Associated Press illustrator Ken saint contributed to this report.

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