As of now, I am in control here, in the White House

Obama Reverses, Opposes Short-Term Debt Ceiling Hike

Posted on by • 123 Comments

Perhaps sensing Republican weakness, President Obama reversed himself and is pushing back against short-term debt ceiling hike, stressing in his weekly address released this morning what a bad idea it would be.

It wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season.

After the GOP was offfered earlier this week what I described as a cave-in by Obama – a willingness to accept a short term debt ceiling increase while negotiations Obama has previously rejected kicked in – Republicans failed to act, dithering for days and failing to forge a unified position between their House and Senate caucuses.

Instead, sloppy Republican leadership allowed competing proposals to emerge from the House and Senate, with a Senate plan that would extend government financing for six months and raise the debt ceiling through January 2014. House Republicans sought to raise the debt limit until the week before Thanksgiving.

As any general knows, when your opposition is divided, you win. Obama acted smartly to abet the divisions among Republicans by inviting them separately to the White House. At his meeting with GOP senators, Republicans were reduced to asking Obama what was in the House plan.

What a joke. Republicans should have gotten their act together and insisted on a meeting between House and Senate GOP leaders and the president. This would have made sense unless, of course, House Speaker John Boehner was never serious about the House position to begin with . . .

Obama had suggested just Tuesday that the debt ceiling need only be raised “for the period of time in which these negotiations are taking place.” White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling the day before had indicated the increase could cover as little as two or three weeks.

A debt ceiling hike through January 2014 is not a catastrophe for the GOP. It still provides three and a half months of pressure to strike deals on limiting spending and and making changes to Obamacare. But with Obamacare entrenched at that point for four months, it seems the goal of delaying it for a year would be off the table.

Here’s Obama’s weekly address.

Related Posts

123 Responses to Obama Reverses, Opposes Short-Term Debt Ceiling Hike

  2. There are no words. So frustrating and meanwhile as health insurance policy renewals are being sent out with new, significant rate hikes, has anyone calculated how much money will be pulled out of the economy? If our policy goes up a hundred or more dollars that is cash that won’t go to extras like eating out or random shopping.

    Mr. Boehner, if you read this, please stand firm!!

    • Yes, Christmas shopping, my arse. BTW, have you seen the Obamacare map on Michelle Obama’s Mirror? The only states which will see a drop in insurance rates are the liberal northeastern ones which are already doing quite well, thank you. The rest of us will be paying for them.

    • For some poor people that will meant just “eating,” much less “eating out.”
      Sad, we have some of those folks in our area who are in a panic.

      • A pinata at least has something worthwhile in side them. Seems that the GOP leadership has nothing inside. No backbone, on heart, no gut. All of the supposed leadership needs to be replaced with people that can stand the heat and abuse.

      • We’ve all become pin cushions. The establishment GOP has declared an internecine war and the Tea Party faction has been declared persona non grata. I need look no further than how poorly they’ve behaved towards Sarah Palin. The bastids never would have gained the seats in the House in 2010 had it not been for the Tea Party.

      • The American people are the personal Pinata’s of this fool who is masquerading as POTUS.
        Personally, I think he is terribly insecure and probably has a drug habit to boot.

  4. The republicans never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Pathetic bunch of gutless, spineless losers willing to sacrifice their country and fellow citizens in order to maintain their own personal positions of power. Traitors.

  5. Another example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

    What an incompetent bunch of asses. The GOP leadership are like the Eloi, willingly going to slaughter whenever the Morlocks chime.

  6. Uh..oh, the GOP is doing the Hokey Pokey dance again…they put their right hand in, they pull their right hand out…♫°•♪.♪♫°•♪♫

  7. My list of “I don’t care anymore”:
    1. that the President turned down a proposal to end the shutdown and keep us from going into default.
    2. that the Repubs have formed a circular firing squad.
    3. that we wasted a bilion dollars on a program that will never work, and has harmed millions of Americans
    4. that the once beloved US park rangers have shown themselves as shock troops bent on torturing random citizens on behalf of their Dem masters
    5. that Bruce Jenner and his wife have marital problems
    6. that no one in DC gives a hoot about what is going on out her in fly-over country
    7. now even the Repubs hate anyone who supports the tea party agenda.

    sigh, now I feel better.

  9. Washington, D.C. is a cesspool of corruption and graft. Our system of government has been bastardized by statists, to the point it no longer functions unless the leviathan can steal more of our wealth and grab more power and control from the people. When one man takes it upon himself to dictate how this country will be run, and there is no one in leadership willing to to stand up to his flagrant abuse of power, we have Tyranny.

    Almost hope for a “super cyclone” to touch down on what Reagan called “the iron triangle of the liberal media, liberal special interest groups, and the massive bureaucracy.” Maybe a good storm will wash all the ticks and bloodsuckers away, and we can start all over again.

  10. “A debt ceiling hike through January 2014 is not a catastrophe for the GOP. It still provides three and a half months of pressure to strike deals on limiting spending and and making changes to Obamacare. But with Obamacare entrenched at that point for four months, it seems the goal of delaying it for a year would be off the table.”

    Not delaying Obamacare for one year might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Obama’s raison d’etre is to completely destroy the Republican party in the mid-terms. By that time the deleterious effects of the ACA will be on display for all to see. Conservatives will be vindicated and we will have a repeat of 2010…in BOTH chambers. Obama will rue the day he didn’t take Boehner’s one-year delay offer….an offer that never should have been put forth considering it would actually have benefitted the grim reaper-in-chief.

      • Sorry, can’t resist. I said I wasn’t going to respond to you. Anyone who comes here and calls someone what you just did makes me say that, if true that you are a graduate of those two institutions, it doesn’t speak well of them. In my books, you are not a civilized, educated person.

      • “I graduated from Northwestern and have an MBA from Stanford.”

        Ooooh. What next are you gonna’ whip out to prove you’re bigger and better than us?

        Wait. Lemme’ get my magnifying glass.

      • I graduated from a bigger school than those–but I would not want to embarrass you. Anyway, it just shows how the well educated have fallen. You’d think someone who went to collitch would have a better vocab. Go know. Anyhow–haven’t we already slapped you around–why are you back for more?

        • Question is…with all that education, does Mark actually have a job? In his field of study? How much does he make? Is he ass deep in student loan debt? And really, if so, how smart does that make him?
          If he can do no better than name calling, I would say he never was, and never will be, very high up the food chain.

  12. I see Michelle and Dr Jill have been out and about with their No Fat kid
    program and faux helping military families. The last one caused me to
    take the Lord’s name in vain more than once. Besides the hypocrisy of
    anything Michelle does why are she and Dr Jill going anyplace aren’t we
    closed as far as her little jollies? I was going to have a free day from news but well now I’m way to angry to calling Tea Trolley.

  13. What did I tell you Keith that my worry was the bottom feeders would make their ways to your site after your great contribution to Politico. Case in point, Mark with his juvenile points to make, and, oh yes, name calling. Gotta have the name calling. We need the filter on or we will be down in the intellectual gutter with them. Be very careful.

  15. Excerpt – Radio Address:

    “And it wouldn’t be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season. Because damage to America’s sterling credit rating wouldn’t just cause global markets to go haywire; it would become more expensive for everyone in America to borrow money. Students paying for college. Newlyweds buying a home. It would amount to a new tax – a Republican default tax – on every family and business in America.”

    Just reading the words of this lying skunk makes my head explode.

    “First-ever INTENTIONAL default”? There is zero chance of default unless Obama and Lew decide not to service the debt! And that would be an INTENTIONAL default. How does he get away with this deceit?

    “A new tax – a Republican default tax on every family and business in America”???
    No, Mr. Obama – that tax is called Obamacare!

    Day after day, week after week, year after year….this little prissy fop is allowed to sit before a camera in the shadow of his legitimate predecessors and spew his propaganda. Such a travesty.

  17. I gotta’ wonder about the psychological health of someone who posts insults on a site filled with people who disagree with him. What’s the point? Does he really think that those people will suddenly convert to his POV and thank him for coming down from Mt. Olympus to dwell with mere mortals?

  18. Speaking of Ted Cruz. Read this takeoff on Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham a while back and thought it was a very appropriate response to the superior (in his own mind) and learned (in the rules of Alinsky) Mark.

    I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam.
    I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books.
    I do not like when Congress steals, I do not like their secret deals.
    I do not like ex-speaker Nan, I do not like this ‘YES WE CAN’.
    I do not like this spending spree, I’m smart, I know that nothing’s free.
    I do not like their smug replies, when I complain about their lies.
    I do not like this kind of hope. I do not like it. nope, nope, nope.

  19. OT. The vet march is Sunday. It is taking place in WDC and at locations throughout the country. Here is a link to where and when and donate if you cannot join, and are so inclined. Kudos to Congressman Stockman and others who are active in this.

    http://vetmarch.com/#top

    • Well, if it came from Susan Collins, how much lower could they go? Don’t forget, Maine is one of the three states he exempted from Obamacare.

      • If Reid turns down an offer from Collins, then there is nothing but unconditional surrender on the agenda.

        This has nothing to do with the country.

    • One question. Under what authority is this Congress allowing revenue bills to be introduced by the Senate? Totally unconstitutional and they better knock it off and act like Americans rather than bi-partisan political hacks. Their game has been exposed for all the world to see. We the People are not going to let them get away with exempting themselves from their own liberty-stealing health insurance scam. Just in case you forgot Dear Congress, “Article I. Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills”. Get that Congress. Not just some Bills, ALL Bills. The Senate has absolutely no say in Revenue bills except to amend or concur. Also, Harry Reid had absolutely no constitutional authority to strip the Obama-Boehnercare defunding from the House Revenue Bill to begin with. Obey Your Oath of Office Congress!

  22. Republicans are still playing by the “Mr. Nice Guy” rules which worked years ago, but now they are playing against Chicago Thug Style politics and come across as wimps against the bullies. There is nothing dirty that Obama and his crew won’t do, and the wimpy Republicans don’t seem to realize that the game has changed and they desperately need to stand their ground and fight back against the bullies. Either stand and fight, or kiss the America we knew goodbye!

  23. Every time he backtracks on somethings, that’s The Limbaugh Theorem right there. You don’t negotiate. Again, “In politics NOTING happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was PLANNED that way” – FDR

  27. I missed Emily entirely but apparently she did not miss my spelling error on my comment to Mark.
    That type of commenter is #1 on my list of “things I don’t care about anymore” (h/t to srdem65)
    But, I admit – I love to tease them relentlessly.
    “I’m older and I have more insurance.” a line spoken by Kathy Bates in the movie “Fried Green Onions”…for the time being that is true for me – and besides, I took the peanut butter sniff test today and the results were, shall we say, of concern. However, I do not particularly like peanut butter … so there is that.

  28. I follow this site with interest. It seems most people despise Obama. But he keeps winning because people care more about how much he golfs and what his wife eats. I have read some postings on here that make Bush Derangement Syndrome look like a day at the beach. My goodness, don’t you folks get tired of shouting in the wind? Look at where the GOP is today, and you bear a lot of that responsibility. Try to act like grown-ups everyone, please.

  32. Interesting that Republicans gave the President and his Dimocrats the way out of this mess and they still rejected it.

    It reminds me of when the Israeli’s gave into many of the PLO’s terms for peace and Yarafat would not negotiate at all.

    President Obama, who is the terrorist now?