There are 87 reasons for Obama’s temporary conversion of convenience to the cause of spending restraint — the 87 House Republican freshmen. Their inflexibility astonishes and scandalizes Washington because it reflects the rarity of serene fidelity to campaign promises.
George F. Will
The Washington Post
7/25/2011
Between 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday, the nation began a constitutional course-correction. The current occupant’s vanity and naivete — a dangerous amalgam — are causing the modern presidency to buckle beneath the weight of its pretenses. And Congress is reasserting its responsibilities.
At his Friday news conference-cum-tantrum, Barack Obama imperiously summoned congressional leaders to his presence: “I’ve told” them “I want them here at 11 a.m.” By Saturday, his administration seemed to be cultivating chaos by suddenly postulating a new deadline: The debt-ceiling impasse must end before Asian markets opened Sunday evening Eastern time, lest the heavens fall.
Those markets opened; the heavens held. The faux deadline, reportedly invoked at a Saturday White House meeting by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who should resign, inevitably seeped into the media and invited overseas panic, thereby risking the nation’s currency, for brief tactical advantage.
Amid these tawdry episodes, House Speaker John Boehner signaled constitutional sanity regained: “Congress will forge a responsible path forward.” Congress. Obama has marginalized himself…
The article continues at The Washington Post.
H/T BackyardConservative who wrote, “I thought the most impressive part of Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner’s remarks Friday after The One’s meltdown was this:
‘I take the same oath of office as the president of the United States. I’ve got the same responsibilities as the president of the United States. And I think that’s for both of us to do what’s in the best interest of our country. And I can tell you that it’s not in the best interest of our country to raise taxes during this difficult economy,’ he said.”
Related: Congressman Issa and Donald Trump weigh in on the debt crisis at Ace of Spades HQ
Peter Schiff takes on Turbo Tax Tim’s demonizations of the Tea Party Congressmen: Peter Schiff Responds to Timothy Geithner on Debt Ceiling – “He’s just making this stuff up!”
Dennis Miller has a rant: Dems Hate Losing to the Squares
Update: Video so obnoxious I don’t even care to embed it. Obama: I’m Dealing with Debt Issue Like Lincoln Dealth with Slavery:
During a discussion with college students at the University of Maryland last week, President Obama compared his current struggles with the debt ceiling debate negotiations with Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Puhleez.
