Wall Street Journal has a must-read piece explaining how Obama owns this whole debt ceiling fiasco and how dishonest his threats against senior citizens receiving social security are nothing but lies to terrify the elderly.
On Tuesday, Mr. Obama told Scott Pelley of CBS News that "there may simply not be the money in the coffers" to issue Social Security, veterans and disability checks after Aug. 3.
Not so. The $172 billion in revenues collected over the rest of the month can pay the $29 billion interest charges on the national debt, Social Security benefits ($49 billion), Medicaid and Medicare ($50 billion), active duty military pay ($2.9 billion), Department of Defense vendors ($31.7 billion), IRS refunds ($3.9 billion), and about a quarter of the $12.8 billion in unemployment checks due that month.
Obama publicly tossed out a figure of $4 trillion in deficit reduction, yet provided no details, no plan, simply used it as a sound bite in his never ending campaign for reelection.
Behind closed doors in negotiations, Barack Obama has thrown out road block after road block, making a bipartisan deal nearly impossible, hoping the American public would simply blame the Republicans for his fiasco and dishonesty.
The president has made a bipartisan agreement even more difficult by declaring certain spending off-limits to cuts. Mr. Obama's "untouchable" list includes his $1 trillion health-care reform, $128 billion in unspent stimulus funds, education and training outlays, his $53 billion high-speed rail proposal, spending on "green" jobs and student loans, and virtually any structural changes to entitlements except further squeezing payments to doctors, hospitals and health-care professionals.
Mr. Obama has offered no evidence since becoming president that he wants to restrain the upward trajectory of government spending. He does want higher taxes to pay for significantly higher federal spending. But he wants Republicans to deliver the tax increases, since Democrats couldn't pass them last year despite controlling both chambers of Congress.
The GOP is right in not bowing down to Obama and bringing the argument to the public as they have been doing, informing the public of each step as evidenced by Gallup's latest finding that out of those watching the debate closely 53 percent are against a debt ceiling increase.
The ceiling will be raised but with a majority (51%) more concerned with raising the ceiling without spending reductions than they are of the economic consequences of not raising the ceiling, the public is proving to be more interested, involved and more importantly, informed, therefore able to see through Obama and Democrats political posturing.
The equation started off simply enough for the GOP, the simple basis being if Obama wants a vote to increase the debt ceiling, to get passage through the Republican controlled House of Representatives, there must be an equal amount in spending reductions and/or cuts to the $2.4 trillion Obama wants added to our allowable debt limit.
Obama's goal to play to his base in his reelection campaign is to continue to try to force tax increases into the debt limit debate, which some polls show to be not as popular with those not self identified as Democrats.
Just 34% think a tax hike should be included in any legislation to raise the debt ceiling. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 55% disagree and say it should not. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
There is a huge partisan divide on the question. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Democrats want a tax hike in the deal while 82% of Republicans do not. Among those not affiliated with either major political party, 35% favor a tax hike and 51% are opposed.
James Pethokoukis provides an email from a GOP aide which explains how Obama's finally becoming involved in the debt ceiling debate after the Biden's negotiating group fell apart, has complicated matters and made them worse, not better.
Over the last several days the White House has been walking back the savings on the Biden number. Thursday it was $2 trillion, Monday it was $1.7-1.8 trillion, Tuesday it was $1.6-1.7-1.8 trillion. This morning our staff met with White House folks and the wrap up from that meeting said that the WH is now at $1.5 trillion.
Given those figures, [Cantor] pointed out that wherever we are- it’s a long way from the $2.4 trillion needed to meet House GOP goals of dollar for dollar so he suggested a possible short-term goal in order to avoid default. He then said to the President that since we can only reach so much in savings and you (President) keep moving the goalposts, I will move off my position of only doing one vote in order to avoid default.
Poll after poll after poll show that Obama's approval rating on the economy reaches new lows consistently as his record is established and Americans have something to which to judge his job performance via the last 2 1/2 years.
Economy Performance Ratings
Obama’s performance ratings drop significantly when the focus turns to his management of the economy, jobs and deficits. By a margin of 61 percent to 32 percent, Americans disapprove of the job Obama is doing to tackle the budget deficit. Fifty-seven percent of respondents disapproved of his efforts to create jobs and overall 57 percent disapproved of his handling of the economy.
Headlines such as "Obama warns Cantor: 'Don't call my bluff' in debt-ceiling talks" and "President Obama abruptly walks out of talks", certainly will not help the public's perception of his handling of the economy.
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