Obama’s Blink
The President has apparently caved in to Tea Party blackmail, the cliché about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory has become a working principle in Washington, and the future could be even worse.
Behind news of ”a package calling for as much as $3 trillion in savings from substantial spending cuts and future revenue produced by a tax code overhaul” is the reality that Barack Obama, with his party controlling the Senate, has apparently given in to the intractability of those who were elected to the House last year and handed them the reins of government.
In such a deal, the cuts in services would be real and immediate, with “future revenue” a cloudy rationalization to obscure the fact that this GOP minority has succeeded in preserving the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans–a resolution of the debt ceiling dilemma that makes no economic or moral sense.
Beyond that, it portends even worse for the future, as Paul Krugman notes:
“The disappearance of unemployment from elite policy discourse and its replacement by deficit panic has been truly remarkable. It’s not a response to public opinion…
6 Responses to “Obama’s Blink”
If this is true then it amounts to a failure of leadership – perhaps even betrayal.
A thumbs up to Obama. I hope this works out OK. Avoiding any national credibility downgrade and a possibly better tax code as the icing. I may even vote for him next time.
Boehner just walked out on talks with Obama. Apparently the GOP is suicidal.
Boehner walked out… not Obama.
Obama, stop trying to be so effing transcendental, magnanimous and The Biggest Man. The privileged, Caucasian morons might begrudgingly applaud you in between ranting about the PPACA, but the country doesn’t benefit one bit.
“Apparently the GOP is suicidal.” – ShannonLeee
That wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t so determined to take everyone else along for the ride.
“calling for as much as $3 trillion in savings”
I’m assuming that’s over 10 years, or about a fifth of our current deficit. That’s “substantial”?