Three Links to Catch Up on the Debt Debate

I was away from the computer, engaged in various projects, for most of the weekend only to get online this morning and find that nothing much has changed in the debt ceiling debate.  After Obama's petulant press conference last week (I mean the one he held after Boehner walked away from the table) I, too, had to step back from the whole mess.  It's all too bizarre.

If nothing else this crisis surely makes even the most die-hard Obama supporter see that he is in over his head.  Right?  At least see that this man really just wants to be a dictator, decree that something should happen, and no honest debate allowed?  Right?

No, there are still people out there that support him and "as God as my witness" I cannot understand why.

Three items to catch up, or summarize the current situation:

This article posted early this morning by Jennifer Rubin:

A Republican aide e-mails me: “The Speaker, Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell all agreed on the general framework of a two-part plan. A short-term increase (with cuts greater than the increase), combined with a committee to find long-term savings before the rest of the increase would be considered. Sen. Reid took the bipartisan plan to the White House and the President said no.”

What?  He said "No" to a bi-partisan plan that stops the dreaded default?   Rubin concludes:

The ONLY reason to reject a short-term, two-step deal embraced by both the House and Senate is to avoid another approval-killing face-off for President Obama before the election. Next to pulling troops out of Afghanistan to fit the election calendar, this is the most irresponsible and shameful move of his presidency.

Crazy.  Just crazy.  He's playing Russian Roulette with the economy.

Second item:  this article by John Hayward (emphasis mine):

On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland before a carefully screened, very supportive audience.  He said a few interesting things in this relaxed and comfortable environment.

Obama blamed divided government for the debt ceiling crisis.  “I’m sympathetic to your view that this would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own,” he told a questioner who brought up the theory, fashionable in some liberal circles, that the 14^th Amendment gives the President power to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally.  The President went on to remark, with a chuckle, that this would give him more time to spend with his daughters.  

He's joking about being a dictator?  He's suggesting it would be a good idea?  Seriously?  

Read the rest of Hayward's piece in which Obama says it's just too hard to keep up with all the different plans on the table; Obama indicates that his knowledge of American history only goes back as far as Ronald Reagan, and finally Obama contends that "we've made good choices so far."  

Good grief we ARE in deep trouble if he really believes that.  Read the whole thing.

And the third item to consider this morning is from The Other McCain who has his eye on market reaction to this mess (link in the original):

Let’s be clear: President Obama has orchestrated this unnecessary drama for the specific political purpose of causing a crisis that he — with the willing assistance of the liberal media — hopes to blame on Republicans.

Yet while Obama, the Democrats and the media (but I repeat myself) are scripting a kabuki dance, economic reality threatens to intervene...

So what are we to make of these three pieces?  Obama is unfit to be president, is doing a poor job of leading us out of this crisis, and is doing everything in his power to make this worse and destroy the American economy.

A Black Monday, indeed.

(Much more at Memeorandum)