**UPDATED**
Photo of the Day: President Barack Obama talks with staff during a Domestic Policy Council meeting in the Oval Office, July 28, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
As Speaker Boehner pitifully massages a House bill into further irrelevance, after failing to heard the Tea Party anarchists to vote on his raising the debt ceiling bill, humiliating his speakership.
Pres. Obama has his own problems, after criticism began mounting that he’s been reduced to the sidelines.
In an effort to prove he’s still very much in the game, today, just a few minutes ago, Pres. Obama spoke in the Diplomatic Room, with Washington watching over him, slamming Speaker Boehner and Tea Party members for continuing to work on a bill that everyone knows is D.O.A. in the Senate.
Since Pres. Obama has refused to use the power of the presidency and the U.S. Constitution, invoking the 14th Amendment as Truman did [Update: There is some disagreement on this one, as he utilized an emergency clause in what precipitated the "Steel Seizure" case.], he once again turned to begging the American people to keep calling, emailing and even tweeting Congress.
Never has the presidency looked so small.
But Mr. Obama did get one thing right. Whether we have a AAA credit rating or not, we definitely do not have a AAA political system. He’s proven that all on his own.
Ive read tons on truman and never read he invoked the 14th. i contacted a friend at the truman library who is a researcher-hopefuly he will let me know for sure on that on that. it would be something truman would do but i want the details and when i get them i will post them here…
Googling the phrase “when was the debt ceiling first enacted” yields a number of hits that say it was first passed in 1917 as part of a Liberty Bonds bill (here’s a CRS report (PDF, page 2) that says so). So, it’s at least theoretically possible that Truman could have.
However, I’ve never heard of him doing it, either, and since we still have one it does seem unlikely that he did. A Politifact report on the history of the debt ceiling doesn’t mention it – Truman took the extraordinary step of financing a war through higher taxes.
Have you ever seen anything as pitiful in all your born days? Talking about the shrinking presidency.
the thing is people are calling congress- but is it the tea party???
dday must read-charlie cook on how dc elites have led to chaos
http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/07/29/america-unmoored-elite-failure-leads-to-utter-confusion/
Krugman to the rescue. He distills it.
http://goo.gl/ICszF
Krugman’s column is one of the few where, generally, real facts are available….but he did fudge things when Obama was running…and he did support Obama over Hillary. So when it really counted…in the primaries…he got it wrong and played it wrong. But I am grateful that he has pushed back since then.
Obama’s urging the people to call apparently worked a few days ago, in that lots of people called. It’s just that no one was listening.
Or maybe a few were. Bernie Sanders, “Why Americans Are So Angry,” at
http://1.usa.gov/q7kAWm.
When the truth comes out — when the books are written — I will bet it will be disclosed that it was Hillary who forced him to get BinLaden because this man does not have the guts to go out on a limb or take any action that involves risk or people getting mad at him, especially Republicans.
That’s why he’ll NEVER use the 14th, because it will infuriate the Republicans.
He has three choices:
1. Do nothing and default. He will then lose the election, first president to default, etc.
2. Cave to the Republicans and go through the whole thing again twice in 2012. He will then lose the election.
3. Use the 14th amendment. Become a president and win the election.
Remember when his supporters were extolling his “superior judgement” based on one measley speech in which he had no risk? Remember Hillary’s reaction to it? Remember all of us saying the country had so many problems we needed someone with deep experience?
Other than cynical elites who thought he was their ride to riches the everyday Obama supporter was just as deluded as the Tea Party backers are now. Blind, ignorant faith and magical thinking on both sides.
Boomers are complete failure as a generation.
makes me want to just spit!
girls don’t spit.
If recent polls, (PDF, page 7) are any indication, those Obama supporters still are deluded, by and large. Progressives still approve of his job performance by an excruciatingly wide margin.
Apologies for that open link macro. I’ve tried to close it here.
God knows I have been critical of Pres Obama for his lack of leadership and abandonment of core Democratic Party principles. The Dems in Congress are also guilty of lack of leadership and spine.
The current chaos regarding the debt ceiling just highlights the crazy that inhabits the Repubs. Pres Obama’s call to continue calling your congress folks is bit like a telethon where someone is trying to raise money. It’s insane.
Yet at some level I feel for the President in how he is trying to get his arms around this chaos, of which he has contributed to by following repub talking points instead of ignoring them and changing the narrative.
But the core to all this chaos and the Tea Party and Repub tactics throughout the Obama Presidency was best explained by Paul Krugman a couple of weeks back. Krugman stated , starting with Pres Clinton and intensifying with Pres Obama, that the Repubs,Tea Party and the right do not accept the legitimacy of a Democrat to be President, They in effect do not accept the legitimacy of a Democrat Presidency. As such they will attack, ignore, undermine the country and the Democratic Party President to regain power. Until all the Democratic Party, Pres Obama, and any future Democratic Party President fully understands this, chaos and gridlock will continue forever.
It will require that Dems at all levels of government abandon and ignore Repub framing of issues and change the narrative. It will require the guts we have not seen from Dems in a generation.
Wrong. Clinton had guts. He faced off against the Republicans. This illustrates the problem with the left and everyone who supported Obama…they bought the BS about Clinton hook, line and sinker. Now they have what they deserve….except they don’t actually deserve it….because for those who don’t have time to do the research and believe they read factual news in the press…the truth was the press was and is a propaganda tool for powerful interests and pushed a false narrative about the Clintons. Bill Clinton today would act differently than Bill Clinton circa 1990′s. And Clinton accomplished a lot given both houses of Congress in Republican hands in 1994. What has Obama accomplished that supports a Democratic narrative?
It seems that Obama was the worst possible option for the Democratic party, and he may well turn out to be one of the very worst presidents.
I agree with that. And unfortunately, it also suggests that progressives and the liberal elite have very poor judgment…inasmuch as they pushed Obama on us…so the Democratic Party gets big blame for this state of affairs. Unfortunately, we don’t have too many bold Democrats. The question for me is what helps get Andrew Cuomo the Democratic nomination for President? And can this country take 4 more years of Obama? Because Cuomo’s the only one out there who has what it takes to rescue the Democratic party. Californians are fortunate to have the incorruptible Jerry Brown…but he’s too old and unique to run for President.
When I was a kid, I read a science fiction story (or comic, too long ago to remember which) about a boy who lived in a constant state of abject horror. Everyone, including his parents, were grotesque and abnormal-looking aliens. He was the only normal person in sight. He would always run away to look for “normal people,” but the aliens would always catch him and tranquilize him so he didn’t hurt himself.
The punchline: Unbeknown to him, HE was the grotesque-looking alien. Everyone else was perfectly normal.
On behalf of all “deluded Obama supporters,” I commend the story to all of you.
There’s a story about an emperor who was told that invisible clothing was all the rage. Everyone around him earnestly believed he was wearing clothes, because that was what kept them in the positions they were in. It took someone who didn’t share that motivation, a child, to reveal the ugly truth.
I commend that story to you.
Unfortunately for your analogy, the kids are quite admiring of this particular emperor’s haberdashery. My prediction is, notwithstanding dire predictions here, said emperor will acquire a new suite of bespoke clothing somewhere around November 2012.
Unfortunately for your criticism, being a kid has little to do with the story. It’s about not letting your motivation to believe something that’s not correct lead you to believe it. I’d say that was a subtle point, but I wrote that explicitly.
Who cares if “the kids” believe Obama’s particular con or not? The idea of a con is to pick the one that works on the target. He’s clearly still conning you.
See, right there is your problem. And the point I was making with the science fiction story. I tried to make it in a light-hearted way, but since you want me to get serious, here goes.
Personally, I give you a lot of props. You’re candid enough to admit that the views espoused here comprise a distinct minority of Democrats (or D-leaners). The problem is the inference that you draw from the fact. To explain away the associated cognitive dissonance (if we are so right, how come there are so few of us?), you have to resort to caricatures of those who do not share your views: They are deluded; they are stupid; they are elites; they are racist, etc. At one time or another, all of these justifications have been deployed here.
The point is this. Have enough humility to concede that there is another possibility – they are right and you are wrong. Or don’t. But at least recognize the irony inherent in the argument that no one is joining your effort to storm Obama’s rampart because they’re all elites whom Obama has completely conned. Really? All 90% of them???
By the way, it should go without saying, I apply the same test to my thoughts. Even though I am not persuaded by most progressive arguments these days, I do not believe them to be the product of delusion. I give them enormous credit for the ends to which they are committed, even as I vehemently disagree with the means they employ.
Okay, enough serious talk for a Friday evening. A Happy Weekend to all!
I thought of you as I read this thread.
Moi? Hopefully, in a nice way
It’s been a long time – hope you’re well.
Hey djjl~ How is it going for you?
Hey ogenec! I didn’t mean you.
I was speaking of progressive Obama supporters. I should have made that clear.
Hey, LL, I know. I wasn’t referring to your specific comment – just making the larger point that some perspective is in order. On all sides.
How’re things on the front lines? Best wishes to you.
Even on a tiny scale politics is hard. Amazing really the opposition one faces for even the smallest push into the 21st cen.but I am getting things done and that is satisfying.
got a response from truman library- he didnt invoke 14th-there si no statements etc from hst on thi at all.
Art – Actually, Truman is said to have invoked the spirit of the 14th Amendment, if you want to get technical.
By the way, the case was Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer.
Sawyer was Truman’s Commerce Secretary, and the Justices came at Truman on separation of powers. The book section I’ve now linked in my post takes issue as to whether the decision was a “rebuke,” but you’d have to read the whole case, because like all things in law it’s more complicated than that.
But though I have a fascination with the law and many friends (relatives, too) who I talk to about legal issues, I don’t play one on TV or when I do political analysis.
The more usual argument I hear, and the one that brought that case to my attention during the Little Bush years, was that the Article II made it possible. That’s borne out by the Supreme Court’s decision, which mentions Article II, but doesn’t mention the Fourteenth Amendment. If the President’s lawyers had made that argument, the SCOTUS decision should have answered it, I would think.
Correct. The debt never exceeded the debt ceiling during Truman’s Administration.
I never tied Truman to the debt ceiling, it was to using the power of the presidency & the Executive Branch, as well as the US Constitution. I should have made that clearer in the piece.
Unfortunately, you mentioned the Fourteenth Amendment, which was not the basis of the case in Youngstown Steel. I assumed one erroneous argument when it was actually another, although I discuss both errors in that link (after the first update). Both misconceptions seem to be out there on the Internet. I’ve gotten quite a few search hits for that article based on either Truman ignoring the debt ceiling, or Truman and the 14th Amendment.
I’ve added a note at the end of my blog’s copy of that article, and will do that here in a moment. Was that you who left the anonymous comment at SnS, by the way?
Truman’s full use of the presidency & the U.S. Constitution was my point and remains so.
Anonymous? I was signed in to Google when I left it & also checked for my name/link to be attached, so it certainly wasn’t meant to be. The few times I have made the effort to comment at your place I’ve always identified myself, as I do any time I’m on the web.
If Obama does not use the 14th amendment then he may avoid a default altogether. He will order that interest be paid on the debt to protect the bondholders. Then he will announce that Social Security and Medicare will have to be cut.
The man has no principles except to get re-elected.
To tell you the truth, I have a sneaking suspicion this is how it will work out, whatever the excuses.
I suppose that means I need to watch an old Twilight Zone episode to get my mind right.
Attaboy