Who's to Blame?

We are now roughly a week away from the day which the U.S. will begin to default on its obligations if the statutory debt ceiling is not raised.  Negotiations between Obama, and Congress resembles a Greek tragedy unfolding.  Each side is trying to blame the other for the situation we face.  I believe it is clear that, while the Republicans and their vow to Grover Norquist, which strangely enough is observed more stringently than some vows of marriage, is causing much of the issues we are seeing unfolding, the President has only himself to blame for even allowing us to get close to this situation.

President Obama is to blame not for his unwillingness to decimate social programs that aren't among the drivers of the debt.  His blame comes from the way he has executed the office of President of the United States.  Time and time again, in an effort to try and appear to be bipartisan, the President negotiated from a position of relative weakness, even when his party controlled both houses of Congress.

It started with the stimulus packages that was pushed for within his first 90 days.  Many people howled over the price tag of roughly $800 billion, and conservatives ultimately called it a failure.  In truth, the package was not too large, but much too stilted toward tax cuts and unemployment benefits, and failed to include enough actual job creating stimulus, that is why it began to loose steam in recent months.  At no time did you hear Barack Obama channel FDR and use his bully pulpit and dare to suggest a massive infrastructure investment that would have been bold and forward thinking.  In truth Barack Obama wasn't audacious in his plans but tried to find out how he could placate Ben Nelson.

During the healthcare reform debate, the President remained silent, never once challenging Congress on the expansion of Medicare as means to insure those who don't have employer provided insurance.  He remained silent while images of death panels were conjured up by his political opponents out of thin air in an effort to scare the electorate.

Over and over again, Barack Obama rewarded the bad behavior of the Republicans who wished to grind Congress to a halt rather than tackle the problems facing our nation during this economic downturn.  His unwillingness to use his bully pulpit and draw lines in the sand on issues such as the spending bills or extension of tax cuts for the top wage earners.  All this has done is shown that as President, he will negotiate with hostage takers, thus inviting more hostage taking.

Barack Obama has one last chance to be a strong leader and take decisive action in this debt ceiling debate, he must call upon the 14th Amendment, which states that the "debt of the government...shall not be questioned" and keep the government operating honor our obligations. This would be a bold move, and the actions of a leader who won't give in to hostage taking.