Whose Default Is It?

President Obama couldn't take it anymore. He tried to negotiate in good faith with the Republicans and get a deal over lowering the deficit and raising the debt ceiling with House Speaker John Boehner, and now the Speaker has walked out. Apparently Eric Cantor told him to. Obama - who has never had any respect from Republicans since he took office - has every right to be angry. He spoke yesterday evening in his press conference with forcefulness, conviction and candor as he admitted to giving House Republicans almost anything they wanted but he still couldn't get them to make any concessions regarding tax increases on wealthier Americans. He said he has no idea what the Republicans could possibly say yes to. but then, the Republicans aren't called the Party of No for nothing.

That's a triple negative, but so are the Republicans.

Anyway, Republicans will blame the president for the not avoiding a debt default by not giving in enough on cuts and taxes. Boehner is already insisting that they had an $800 billion revenue deal that the President has walked away from. Obama has already blamed the Republicans for their inflexibility on taxation. There's plenty of blame to go around. But no one is going to get an A for effort to avoid default if there is a default, and no one will get any credit (no pun intended) if and when the debt ceiling is finally raised. Americans are just sick of everybody in Washington now. :-(

Deadbeat Nation

Hoo boy! Republicans drove up the debt under George Walker Bush, they put on a credit card two wars Barack Obama is trying to end on a credit card, and now they're refusing to raise the debt ceiling without deep spending cuts hurting the poor and the middle class while leaving tax breaks for the rich alone?

If they win control of both houses of Congress next year, it will be by numbers - the hard numbers that force the Democrats to defend more Senate seats and try to win back the house in the face of GOP-friendly re-apportionment - and by numbers only.

But then, if the Republicans drive America into default, they will demonstrate to independents, as David Brooks wrote in the New York Times, that they're not fit to govern. Which means there will be a silver lining if America defaults on its debts and all hell breaks loose in the international markets come August 2. This could mean that the country will be a red nation in terms of budget ink but not Republicanism.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan says he doesn't want America to go the way of Greece. that could very well happen if his party brings debt ceiling talks to the form of brinkmanship.