Obama raises cash as Dems suffer blow

President Obama hosted a high-priced fundraiser Tuesday night as his party suffered a stinging loss in Florida’s special election.

In his remarks, Obama did not address Republican David Jolly’s narrow victory over Democrat Alex Sink for the late Rep. Bill Young’s (R-Fla.) House seat. Instead, he touted that his administration provided health care for millions of Americans and that the growth of health care costs had slowed.

“Not only have we already provided health care for millions of people who didn’t have it before — the latest report is we’ve got well over 4 million people who’ve already signed up through the exchanges,” he said.

{mosads}He also accused lawmakers in Congress of not being “serious about America’s future” during the Manhattan fundraiser at the home of private equity fund president, Tony Jones.

Obama told Democratic donors that policy priorities like infrastructure and immigration reform would be “non-controversial” in a “normal political environment.” But he complained that lawmakers in Washington put a premium on saying “no” because of their electoral interests.

“Man, it would be a lot easier if I had a Congress that was serious about America’s future,” Obama bemoaned.

The president said Republican leaders, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), acknowledged that legislative action on issues such as immigration reform was important.

“What’s holding us back is politics,” Obama said.

The president was joined at the event by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. Around 40 Democratic donors paid $32,400 per ticket to benefit the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The event was hosted by Jones, the president and chief operating officer of the Blackstone Group.

This was the president’s second fundraiser of the night, following a roundtable discussion hosted by the Democratic National Committee where approximately 25 supporters contributed up to $32,400 to attend.