Obama’s Disingenuous Debt Ceiling Argument

January 15, 2013 4 Comments

President Obama held a press conference yesterday. Not surprisingly the upcoming debt ceiling issue provided the bulk of the meeting. The president acts like raising the debt ceiling is about paying future obligations on past loans. It really is no such thing. It’s about the government not being able to pay more than it takes in unless or until the debt ceiling is raised. If the debt ceiling is reached, there is nothing stopping the Federal government from continuing to pay interest on debt already accumulated so long as the government brings in tax revenue in an equal amount. It’s completely disingenuous for the President to act like reaching the debt ceiling equals default.

Senator Obama made this argument in 2006 when he opposed raising the Debt ceiling. He said:

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

In 2006 Senator Obama wanted to force cuts in funding to the military for the Iraq War. Today Republicans want to force cuts to government programs generally. Sen. Obama circa 2006 is making the very same arguments that the Republicans are making today. Yet today the President basically calls the GOP petulant teenagers figuring we won’t notice his threat to take his marbles and go home.

In 2006 the Republicans should have joined with Sen. Obama and opposed an increase in the debt ceiling. They should have demanded cuts to entitlement programs and an elimination of earmarks. Republican reasons for opposing a debt ceiling increase may have been different, Obama was trying to derail a war and then blame Republicans for defeat. But had Republicans behaved like conservatives in 2006 they would have supported cuts in Federal spending.

One is left wondering what Obama’s purpose here is. Once again the President is faced with a major problem and once again he doesn’t offer a solution. His entire 2012 campaign was based on painting the Republicans as the “enemy” while not offering any solutions himself. Now that his second term is about to begin, he’s continuing forward with this strategy. We have a major debt problem and the President doesn’t care to address it at all. He offers nothing while he paints the opposition party as the Devil trying to destroy the nation. The arrogance is incredible, especially when you consider this President won’t even involve himself in actual debt ceiling negotiations and won’t get half of what he wants in the final bill.

Obama is going to spend the next four years getting very little of what he wants passed through Congress while he demonizes the Republican Party. He will lose any chance he had at retaking the House by pushing gun control legislation and/or gun control via executive action. He will forever be portrayed by Democrats as the second coming of Lincoln when in reality he has thus far been a mediocre President. Obama’s mediocrity isn’t going to change during his second term absent a major crisis internationally. Obama doesn’t want to have an honest debate about government spending which is why he has to fall back on demonizing the “enemy.” His refusal to address problems is the cause of his mediocrity.

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Debt Ceiling Platinum Coin Plan On The Table

January 5, 2013 3 Comments

President Obama seemed to indicate on Tuesday that he would bypass Congress concerning the debt ceiling. With Obama saying he won’t negotiate and John Boehner claiming he won’t negotiate one on one with Obama, we’re headed for a debt ceiling showdown. The Democrats seem to be moving toward a plan which would see the Treasury create platinum coins with a fictitious value. The Federal government would then continue to borrow based on the fictitious amount of the coins despite the debt ceiling not going up. You would think this sort of absurdity would be left to the world of conspiracy web sites. But Rep. Jarrod Nadler is on board as is Sen. Harry Reid.

If this was 1993 the American public would be outraged if a President tried to pull this sort of stunt. But Obama has managed in four years to divide the nation like we haven’t been divided before. We’ve never before had a President declare the other party an “enemy” and then go about treating it as such. To think that the American public would overwhelmingly oppose the platinum coin idea is foolish. Obama supports will jump right on board, Republican opposition will only confirm their support. After all Obama is the savior, the Republicans the enemy. Anything the enemy opposes must be good. That the President is creating magic coins, Obama supporters simply won’t care.

The question then is what do the Republicans do about this if it should happen. It’s clear that the administration is considering this tactic, Obama has long wanted dictatorial powers and has often criticized the fact that he has to deal with Congress. He didn’t even like dealing with Congress when it was controlled by his own party. That Rep. Nadler and Sen. Reid are coming out in support of this idea suggests that the administration is putting out feelers on it and are looking to grow support and pave the way for it. It’s time for the GOP to start considering their response. That response has to go beyond simple outrage.

John Boehner should refuse to bring any spending bill up for a vote if the President creates these magic coins or otherwise circumvents Congress on the debt ceiling. The House should refuse to fund Obamacare, it should refuse to fund the Federal government. If Boehner wants to have some fun, they should pass a spending bill for the military and let it die in the Senate or let the President veto it. Then he can complain about how much Obama and the Democrats hate the troops. Nonsense to be sure but no more nonsense than creating magic platinum coins. If it takes shutting down the government, Boehner has to have the guts to do it and he has to go into this knowing that at least 45% of the country will be on Obama’s side.

The Republicans cannot allow themselves to get caught off guard on this issue. With Sen. Reid talking about it, this is well past the world of tin foil hat conspiracy. With Obama’s declaration that he’ll deal with this matter on his own, without Congress, every imaginable plan must be considered. We have a lame duck President who desires dictatorial powers and who is openly critical of Constitutional checks on his power. The relatively nice guy politics of Clinton have been over for awhile, it’s time for the GOP to catch up. It’s time for the GOP to start formulating a response and a plan of action before Obama actually does something. In the legal world we try to anticipate the arguments and actions of the other side. It’s time for the Republicans, mostly lawyers, to use their legal training.

 

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House GOP Needs To Play Debt Ceiling Hardball

January 2, 2013 Leave a comment

Obama signed the fiscal cliff deal, increasing taxes and Federal spending. Obama got himself a political victory, sealed by moronic Republicans refusal to permanently pass the Bush tax cuts on multiple occasions over the last decade. The biggest loser of them all is John Boehner, who originally agreed to $800 billion in tax increases only to be out negotiated by Mitch McConnell who agreed to only $620 billion over a decade. The real loser though is the American people who once again saw neither party willing to tackle the real problem: Spending. The spending cuts negotiated by the debt ceiling deal of 2011 were delayed two months leading one to wonder if the Federal government will ever cut anything.

We still have a debt ceiling issue as the we’re nearing hitting the limit. Obama declared he won’t negotiate over the debt ceiling. If this is the case, the House Republicans ought to be content not negotiating and thus not raising the debt ceiling. Obama has declared we can’t cut our way into prosperity. Perhaps this is true but we can cut our way to a balanced budget. Unfortunately this President refuses to cut anything. We’ve been extending long term unemployment for years, we could have put a stop to the madness. Instead half of the tax increases will go to extended long term unemployment welfare. Yesterday’s bill did nothing to tackle the deficit problem.

If Obama won’t tackle the deficit problem then Republicans must. The GOP controls the purse strings according to the Constitution. It’s time for them to exercise the power that the Constitution gives them. They put themselves in a rotten position concerning the fiscal cliff, Obama had the upper hand. Now the Republicans have the upper hand and it’s time for Boehner to use it. If Boehner won’t then perhaps Eric Cantor should be the Speaker. Cantor voted against the fiscal cliff monstrosity, Boehner and Paul Ryan voted for it. There’s a clear line in the Republican caucus.

Obama won’t negotiate the debt ceiling, let the debt ceiling hit. Obama wants Obamacare funded, the House GOP should refuse. Obama wants Federal employees paid for, the House GOP should refuse. Obama wants one big spending program funded after another, the House should refuse. The House should pass a military budget, let the Democrat Senate not pass it or let the President veto it. The House Republicans have some power at this point, they need to start using it.

Of course Boehner won’t use the power given to him in the Constitution. He hasn’t over the last two years, he’s too weak to take on Obama. This is the second major negotiation that Boehner lost control of. He lost control of the debt ceiling negotiation in 2011 and he lost control of the fiscal cliff. How many more major fiasco’s are the House Republicans willing to put up with? It’s time for the House GOP to do what they were elected to do: Cut spending. If Boehner won’t do it then perhaps Eric Cantor will.

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Boehner Must Deliver Partisan Gridlock

November 7, 2012 18 Comments

You aren’t seriously depressed now that our self described “progressive” Republican and johnny come lately conservative has been soundly defeated are you? Mitt Romney, in his nasty primary campaign wherein he accused every other candidate of being a conservative heretic, couldn’t convince Republicans he was a conservative. You expected him to convince the nation he was on the up and up? Going into the first debate it was conventional wisdom that if Obama won it the race was over. Romney won the debate and unfortunately the GOP went mad on the mere thought of defeating Obama. We should have been preparing for the next four years with him as President.

Obama is a lame duck today. The next two months will define his second term. He has no mandate. He got less votes than 2008 and despite Romney’s absolutely pathetic performance Obama still has two less states than 2008. We have in the next six weeks several major issues that are coming up which require Congressional action. The Bush tax cuts expire on January 1st and Obama’s sequestration begins on that date. Sometime in the next six weeks the debt ceiling is going to be hit and Congressional action will be needed to raise it.

It’s now up to weepy John Boehner to hold firm and not give into Obama and the Democrats. The debt ceiling provides the perfect opportunity for Boehner. He should refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless all of the Bush tax cuts are extended for four years. Don’t like that Obama? Tough toenails, the GOP should be prepared to allow the nation to default on its debt and/or force a government shut down. If Boehner plays his cards right, something Romney never did, he can rally support around not raising the debt ceiling based on the fact that we have an almost unreal $16 trillion debt.

Boehner has a real opportunity to get something for the GOP in exchange for a debt ceiling increase. But Boehner needs to be willing to play hardball with Obama. He can’t be afraid to walk away from the negotiating table. He can’t allow fear of the 2014 mid-term elections to scare him away from making a deal advantageous to GOP interests. We’ve just seen an election that two weeks ago appeared to be swinging towards Romney only to watch a hurricane come in and sweep it back to Obama.Voters don’t think long term. By November 2014 few will remember the debt ceiling negotiation of 2012. The few that remember can likely be counted on to vote for their party anyway.

It is now up to John Boehner to protect the country from whatever Obama’s second term agenda is. Our nation has just re-elected a man who refused to defend his first term and refused to tell us what his second term agenda is. It’s absolutely incredible, he could decide he wants just about anything at this point. It’s up to Boehner to block it. The nation voted for partisan gridlock yesterday and we can only hope the Republicans are prepared to deliver partisan gridlock. If John Boehner isn’t up to the task, Eric Cantor is looking over his shoulder. Don’t think for a second that Boehner doesn’t know that and lose a little sleep at night over it. He should, if the Speaker cannot deliver gridlock the rank and file ought to remove him in favor of Cantor.

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Obama AWOL On Supercommittee Negotiations

November 22, 2011 Leave a comment

President Obama and the Democrats are whining about the supercommittee failure to reach an agreement to cut $1.2 trillion over a decade. As a result of the failure, the government will automatically cut the military budget by around $60 billion a year and it will cut various entitlements. Obama is outraged and the Democrats are whining about a do nothing Congress. In reality we have a do nothing President and a do nothing Senate.

President Obama was AWOL during the debt ceiling negotiations that led to this supercommittee nonsense. Knowing the debt ceiling needed to be raised throughout July, Obama did nothing until the very last minute. Even in that, he stormed out of negotiations and ultimately left that job to his subordinates. With the supercommittee in place, instead of trying to lead the committee and negotiate within its structure, Obama did nothing. He’s spent October on his pass this bill tour and he’s spend November doing absolutely nothing. He then has the audacity to whine when the supercommittee couldn’t agree to anything. Where was the President to negotiate?

Obama wants tax increases rather than spending cuts. This is an interesting shift considering that just last December the President forced the Democrat Congress to pass an extension of Bush’s tax cuts for two years. At the time Obama said it would be unwise to raise taxes during a recession. Apparently today is a time to be unwise. Yet instead of really going to bat for tax increases, the President has once again stood on the sidelines and done nothing. This seems to be his mode of operation. He did it with the Stimulus, letting Congress and special interests write the legislation. He did it with Obamacare and the debt ceiling as well.

Yet Obama accuses the Congress of doing nothing. It is in fact the President who has done nothing. He didn’t even try to get involved with the supercommittee. He barely got involved in the debt ceiling negotiations. He’s never done anything on his jobs bill other than pointless run around the country promoting it. We don’t have a do nothing Congress, we have a do nothing President who refuses to negotiate or otherwise get involved.

If we have a do nothing Congress it isn’t because of the Republican House, it’s because of the Democrat Senate. It’s been over 900 days since the Democrat controlled Senate has passed a budget. The Republican House has passed dozens of bills, including  a budget and a jobs bill, all of which have died in a Senate that refuses to consider their own bills, much less House bills. Republicans aren’t to blame for inaction in Washington. The President and Senate Democrats are.

But of course don’t expect the media to report that. The media is to busy pushing for big tax increases and complaining about Republicans to notice that Obama has been AWOL in most negotiations. In fact they’re to busy whining about the GOP to notice Obama has largely been AWOL the entire month of November. The fact though is that the GOP House has passed dozens of bills and the Democrat Senate won’t consider them. The Democrat Senate hasn’t passed a budget in nearly three years, they’re the guys doing nothing along with the President.

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A Tea Party Downgrade?

August 8, 2011 Leave a comment

Standard & Poors downgraded the credit rating of the United States last Friday. This is the same Standard & Poors that completely missed the mortgage crisis in 2008. One wonders why anyone should take them seriously. One thing to keep in mind is that Wall Street was in the bag for Obama in 2008, now S&P turns around and whines about the lack of tax increases. While I don’t think S&P is doing any favors for Obama, keep in mind in the background most of Wall Street voted for this President.

The Democrats have decided that the downgrade is the fault of the Tea Party. Sen. John Kerry, David Axlerod, Larry Summers and a legion of House Democrats have declared this a “Tea Party Downgrade.” As though a nebulous group of people that came together in 2009 is somehow responsible for $14 trillion in debt and an unstable economy. No sir, it couldn’t be decades of wasteful spending by Democrats and Republicans. It can’t possibly be because of entitlement programs created by both parties that are bankrupting the country. No sir, it’s the people who want to cut back on the size of government who are responsible for the downgrade.

What’s interesting is that the major Tea Party favorites voted against the debt ceiling deal. Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Michelle Bachmann being the two biggest. On a smaller scale, more than 20 other House Republicans, most of them newly elected Tea Party members, all voted against the debt ceiling deal. This includes my new Congressman Justin Amash.

The Tea Party wasn’t to blame for the debt ceiling deal, the establishment of both parties was responsible. The establishment in neither party takes our debt crisis seriously. We all know the Democrats don’t care about massive deficit spending, their accusations that any cuts amount to terrorism is proof of that. But let’s be honest, John Boehner isn’t all that interested in cutting anything either. He’ll stamp his feet about cutting government but if the GOP wins in 2013 Boehner on his own isn’t going to initiate any cuts in government. Just like the Republicans didn’t cut anything when Bush was elected. In fact, Congressional Republicans created new entitlement programs during Bush’s first six years.

The debt this country has isn’t sustainable. Having debt at 100% of GDP and rising isn’t sustainable. The Democrats and apparently S&P want tax increases but the fact is tax increases won’t slow our debt creation and will only result in a further economic downturn. The fact is, if the Federal government confiscated every penny earned by those making over $250,000 a year they would barely get through six months of Obama’s spending.

Taxing the rich isn’t going to solve our debt problem. In fact, it will make the debt problem worse. Around 60% of our consumer spending comes from the top 2%. An even higher percentage of American investment comes from this group. If they are taxed at a higher rate, they’ll have less money to spend and invest. Who do you suppose will be hurt the most? The people who they are currently buying things from and the companies they’re currently investing in. The end result of tax increases will be a recession, just look at what happened in 1991 when Bush, 41, raised taxes. Go back further to 1930 when Hoover raised taxes and 1933 when FDR raised them even higher. The result was a prolonged depression. Raising taxes isn’t the answer.

The answer is spending cuts. We need serious cuts to the size and scope of the Federal government. We need to take a serious look at eliminating some Federal agencies, such as the Department of Education. Yes, we need to look at some cuts in defense spending. We have 11 support personnel for every soldier on the ground, during World War Two it was 7 to 1. There is room for cuts. We need to curb entitlements, we need to curb food stamps for the college aged sons and daughters of millionaires and we need to put a cap on the number of years someone can be on food stamps just like we already have for welfare. We need to repeal Obamacare before it adds to our debt in 2014.

Only a cut in the size of the government will allow our credit rating to go back to AAA. We cannot continue on with the increases in the debt that have taken place since 2007. It was bad enough when Congressional Republicans passed budgets with $500 billion deficits when Bush was President. But the amount of annual debt tripled once the Democrats took power. This sort of spending isn’t sustainable. We’re 18 months away from having $17 trillion in debt. And then what? The government will want more and more and more. One is left wondering when it will all collapse. You can bet that John Kerry will be first in like to call it a Tea Party collapse.

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Hypocritical Left Uses Violent Rhetoric Against Tea Party

August 4, 2011 4 Comments

Just a few months ago when Rep. Giffords was shot by a loner gunman the left immediately blamed “violent” right-wing rhetoric for the shooting. Never mind of course that the gunman had no political motivation. Sarah Palin was the left’s favorite target because of a fundraising ploy in which Palin put various Democrat Congressmen in her ‘cross-hairs.’ In other words, Mrs. Palin was targeting certain Democrat Congressmen for defeat in the 2010 election. The left was enraged at the ‘violent’ nature of the rhetoric and took the Giffords shooting as a chance to attack Sarah Palin.

Fast forward this week and what is the left-wing line about the debt ceiling negotiations? Vice President Joe Biden called the Tea Party ‘terrorists.” His office denies this but it is undisputed that Rep. Mike Doyle alleged that his party “negotiated with terrorists” and that “this small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.” I surely hope the Tea Party is preventing further spending, but it is outrageous to call us terrorists.

Over at the New York Times, Joe Nocera claims that the Tea Party is waging a “war on America.” He declares “you know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists.” Thomas Friedman called the Tea Party the “Hezbollah faction” of the GOP. Meanwhile Maureen Dowd has a glowing review of Democrats who declare the Tea Party to be “the Republican Taliban wing.”

Should we keep going? Politico ran an op-ed by Martin Frost titled “The Tea Party Taliban.” They also ran a piece by William Yeomans titled “The Tea Party’s Terrorist Tactics.” Margaret Carlson claims the Tea Party is a “nihilist caucus” who have strapped explosives on the Capitol. There are dozens of other examples from local newspapers around the country of leftists attacking the Tea Party by accusing them of being terrorists.

Keep in mind of course if the right ever accused Obama of being a terrorist the left would first call us racists then they would accuse us of hating Muslims. When they attack conservatives as being terrorists or part of terrorist Muslim groups it’s perfectly acceptable. Rather then engage in a battle of ideas with conservatives, the left would rather slander the right and act like spoiled school yard bullies.

Keep in mind, the Democrats won the debt ceiling debate. There aren’t any real cuts. Yet the far left is enraged, largely because they know Obama looked like a fool during most of the negotiations. In the end, they got bill that shuts out conservatives, raises the debt ceiling and doesn’t actually cut anything. You wouldn’t know that listening to these people whine about the Tea Party terrorists or the Hezbollah wing of the Republican Party.

The far left has two reasons for attacking the Tea Party in this manner. First, the left is furious that the debate was controlled by the Tea Party. Second, they’re setting up the Tea Party for when the economy gets worse. They’re going to blame the debt ceiling deal for the economy falling into a double dip recession, which of course will have nothing to do with a couple billion in cuts. Never mind of course that the debt ceiling bill was written by Senate Democrats.

Truth doesn’t matter with these people, all that matters is slandering opponents. It’s why they spent a month attacking conservatives after Rep. Giffords was shot even though the shooter wasn’t a conservative. They called for civility and an end to violent rhetoric by conservatives. Just six months later they’re calling conservatives terrorists and nihilists who are part of Taliban and Hezbollah factions of the Republican Party. So much for civility, so much for non-violent public discourse. On the left, the ends justify the means even if they’re hypocritical. That is the state of public discourse in America.  

 

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Tea Party Won Nothing; Double Dip Recession Is Here

August 2, 2011 2 Comments

The bogus debt ceiling deal has now come and gone. We’re adding nearly $3 trillion to the debt in exchange for almost zero in cuts. Most of the cuts don’t even begin until 2014, including the $1.2 trillion in military and medicare cuts. In other words, a future Congress can reverse the cuts with ease. This isn’t a Tea Party victory, it’s a Senate Democrat victory. Meanwhile on the ground consumer spending declined 0.2% in June while income increased only 0.1%. Couple that with two very weak quarters this year and one wonders if the double dip recession isn’t here.

The economy is going to get worse before it gets better. The debt ceiling deal is only going to make matters worse. By taking on more debt, we’re increasing the odds for inflation. Mind you inflation is already hitting us hard. Gas has doubled in the last two years and food prices are surging. Looking at the overall economy, manufacturing fell to its lowest in two years in July. The housing market continues to be a disaster.

The double dip is here and there is no where for Obama to hide. The economy is his. It is his policies that have created this mess. The Stimulus was a failure. Obamacare has added new taxes and created conditions for layoffs at many companies. Federal regulations are costing jobs. Now we have a debt ceiling increase, which will bring on a whole new wave of inflation. Default wasn’t averted with the debt ceiling deal. It was all but guaranteed.

The Tea Party didn’t win anything in this debt ceiling debate. Yes, they controlled the narrative and generally speaking the country supports the idea of cutting government. That may be good for the election next year but in terms of putting those ideas into the bill, it just didn’t happen. The cuts aren’t real but the debt is. The Senate Democrats won. They got zero cuts in exchange for a massive debt ceiling increase. What few cuts there are will be out of a military currently fighting three wars and Medicare payments to doctors. In other words, the cuts will destroy the military and create a healthcare crisis. This is a Tea Party victory?

The left is busy attacking the Tea Party, as though the Tea Party won the debate. The left knows better than this. Joe Biden knows the Tea Party isn’t full of terrorists who held the nation at gunpoint. Biden knows the Senate Democrats wiped the floor with John Boehner. True, Obama looks like a big loser in all of this because he didn’t get tax increases. But that doesn’t mean the Democrats didn’t win and it surely doesn’t mean the Tea Party won.

In the end, it is the people of this country that lost. We have a government that has every intention of spending $3 trillion that it doesn’t have. When Obama’s first term ends the nation will have nearly $17 trillion in debt. That’s an increase of nearly $6 trillion. Add on 2007-2008 when the Democrats controlled Congress and the national debt will have nearly doubled in just six years. The loser is the American people. Inflation will make the value of the money we earn decrease substantially. It is those of us on fixed incomes who will be hurt the most, the very people the Democrats claim to be fighting for.

The next election needs to be about the economy and Federal spending. This President has taken us down the path of unsustainable growth in Federal government and debt. It cannot continue without a default. We have an economy that is floundering. Manufacturing has dropped, consumer spending and confidence is down and incomes aren’t rising. Obama and the big spenders in Washington are killing the American people with debt. We must get these people, no matter their party, out of office.

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Dems Win Debt Ceiling Battle; Tea Party Will Win Next Year

August 1, 2011 6 Comments

The debt ceiling deal reached by Congress does little to actually cut spending. In terms of actual spending cuts, in 2012 and 2013 the bill only cuts around $10 billion. Most cuts don’t begin until 2014, when of course a new Congress can change the terms of spending. Of course by then the $2.7 trillion in debt ceiling space will have already been added to our growing national deficit. While it’s been amusing to watch the Democrats fall into hysterics, Rep. Emmanuel Clever called the deal a “Satan sandwich” and Rep. John Conyers called for a march on the White House, the fact is this deal doesn’t cut much of anything.

Since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007 annual Federal spending has increased by 41%. The national debt has grown by $5.6 trillion, around a 64% increase. Since 2007 unemployment has gone from 4.4% to 9.2%. This country cannot afford more debt and all this debt ceiling deal is going to do is add more debt. Most Americans recognize this. In fact, only arrogant fools like Paul Krugman think otherwise.

While the Tea Party controlled the narrative of this debate, we didn’t really gain much. Yes, the Republicans were able to hold the line against tax increases. That is a major victory in light of the President’s feet stamping demands throughout most of July. But in terms of actual cuts, this deal doesn’t cut anything of substance. It doesn’t include a balanced budget amendment, which means that Congress is free to spend wildly. The narrative was controlled by the Tea Party but victory here lies with the Democrats who were able to increase the debt ceiling without giving up any meaningful spending.

Where victory does not lie is with President Obama. The President leaves this issue battered and broken. Obama looked weak throughout this negotiating process. His petulant attitude and arrogant conduct was not appreciated by the American people. Worse, after pitching a spoiled brat fit a week ago Friday before the nation he was bypassed by his own party in the Senate. Ultimately the President was forced to give up the tax increases he wanted so badly. He folded nearly 10 days before the deadline. He didn’t even make an argument for tax increases last week. In short, the President was exposed, yet again, as a paper tiger during the debt ceiling negotiations. This time it was for the whole country to see.

The Democrats won this battle but they will lose the election next year. Why? Because the Tea Party controlled the narrative of this debate even if they didn’t ultimately get what they wanted. The country recognizes that we have an out of control debt. A balanced budget amendment has 70+% approval among voters. The country prefers the Tea Party philosophy and that philosophy is framing the narrative of the 2012 election. The next election is going to be about Obama’s record and it will be his record against the philosophy of the Tea Party. The American people will have a clear choice and right now it’s looking good for the Tea Party.

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Obama Caves; Tea Party Controls Debate

August 1, 2011 2 Comments

It appears Congress has come up with a debt ceiling compromise that is sure to make no one happy. The debt ceiling will be raised by around $2.7 trillion, meaning by election time next year the national debt will be just below $17 trillion. In exchange there will be $1 trillion in cuts over 10 years and a bogus Congressional commission that will cut another $1.8 trillion. Apparently if the commission is deadlocked or otherwise doesn’t do its job an additional $1.2 trillion in cuts will be triggered. Keep in mind the new debt is immediate while the cuts are over 10 years, mostly in the latter half of those 10 years.

President Obama once again showed us what a terrible leader and negotiator he is. Just like with the Stimulus and Obamacare, he was largely out of the negotiations. When he did get involved, he blustered around before caving. Just a few weeks ago Obama demanded tax increases. Just 10 days ago he held a press conference whining about Republicans not supporting tax increases. Yet since Monday Obama has been almost completely shut out of the debt ceiling negotiations. He’s been forced to cave, the new plan will have no tax increases.

President Obama has a lot of grand ideas but he has no idea how to put them into action. He had only two years as a Senator before he got elected President, he’s never held an executive office before. It is clear he has no idea how to manage government. Especially so if he’s forced to deal with negotiating with the opposition party. Even when he isn’t forced to negotiate, he leads from behind. Just look at Libya. He’s letting the French, NATO and everyone else manage that war. Instead of leading, Obama follows. Because he isn’t a leader, all of his grand ideas get trampled on because he has no idea how to push hard for them. He’s weak in the face of stronger men.

While the Tea Party didn’t get everything it wanted in the debt ceiling debate, the Tea Party comes out victorious. The Tea Party prevented tax increases, which is a major accomplishment. While the cuts aren’t as high as we would like and the probably aren’t as real as we would like, the fact is spending cuts were the focal point of this entire debate. The Tea Party controlled the narrative. The debate was about cutting the size of the Federal budget, we were victorious. The fact is, we probably got the best deal we could considering that Democrats control the Senate and the White House.

In 18 months we could have an entirely new government. President Obama’s poll numbers have been down substantially in the last week. They weren’t so hot coming into the week either. There is a good chance he doesn’t win re-election next year. In the Senate, the Republicans will likely pick up a minimum of 5 seats based on retirements and various state dynamics. The GOP could pick up even more. They need only 4 seats to gain a majority (if Obama wins re-election, it’s 3 seats if the GOP wins the White House). Even if Obama wins a second term, he will likely be dealing with a Republican Congress. We can expect at that point that the President will bluster away before ultimately caving. No doubt the Republicans are onto his negotiating “tactic.”

Having said all of this, at the end of the day we’re still looking at a massive Federal debt. It will be nearly $17 trillion by the time the next Presidential term begins. This isn’t sustainable. We cannot have budget deficits above $1 trillion year after year. The size and scope of government must be reduced. The deal Congress reached yesterday barely scratches the surface. It’s a start, but it’s slow out of the gates. We need more cuts and we need them sooner rather than later.

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