Obama Continues to Bully Boehner and the GOP

The more President Obama talks about not tolerating another debt ceiling crisis such as occurred last year, the more it seems likely that his talk will precipitate one.
House Speaker John Boehner has said, yesterday and often in the past months, that there will be no increase in the US debt ceiling without meaningful spending cuts. At a $15 Trillion debt rising to $16.4 Trillion when the debt ceiling issue is addressed, it is hard to argue with Boehner’s line in the sand.
Not only is Speaker Boehner delivering this message to the President and the Democratic Senate, but the financial community and ratings agencies are also trying to point the way to spending cuts in Washington.
Obama's calling for a “bi-partisan approach” to the debt ceiling question rings hollow since he is at the same time blaming the GOP majority in the House for the entirety of last year’s fiasco. It will be difficult to get any bi-partisanship off the congressional ground while Obama insists on placing all the blame on the other party.
The debt ceiling will be on the table in November, after the 2012 elections and before the new Congress and President take office, so whether anything can be accomplished on the lame duck session is questionable, but President Obama’s bullying effort is surely not the best tactic.
With the Bush tax cuts also ready to expire on January 2013, and with the ratings agencies warning about another possible downgrade in America’s credit rating, one would expect the President to be more accommodating.
Perhaps this, more than any other reason, explains why it is critical to elect both a Republican President and Congress in November, because it is the only sure way to get control of the national debt and budget while there is still time to make meaningful progress.