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Try Boehner and Cantor for Treason? What about Obama?

Posted: July 25, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Barack Obama, Democratic Politics, Medicaid, Medicare, Republican politics, Social Security, U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics, voodoo economics | Tags: , , , , , , , , |40 Comments

Are Sky Dancers cutting edge or what? Nearly two weeks ago, Dakinikat asked whether our government leaders could be charged with treason over the debt ceiling debacle.

Now David Seaman, a blogger at Business Insider argues that Boehner and Cantor are committing treason by catering to a small number of Tea Partiers’ demands while making the U.S. look weak and unreliable to the rest of the world.

I don’t know of a single American business owner or executive who thinks default — economic armageddon — should be on the table, and yet Republicans are acting as if Americans consider this a viable option.

Sadly, it’s already too late: although we still have time to get a deal before the August 2nd hard deadline, this is the equivalent of shoving a check under your landlord’s door at 11:59 p.m. You’ve lost his trust, even if you are technically not in default.

Enough disgusting dramatics to please your small Tea Party base — we are a nation of more than 300 million; the Tea Party is a handful of folks with racist signs, radical agenda, and the favor of a few influential bookers at Fox News.

On Boehner and Cantor:

John Boehner — a full-grown man who cries in public for rhetorical affect (or maybe he’s that imbalanced, I don’t know)… Eric Cantor — a disgusting attention-seeker who doesn’t realize he is one of the country’s actual leaders, and not merely a commentator on a political morning show.

At this point, Americans should be calling for both of their heads. We need to keep an eye on such “leaders” and ensure that they and their kind are not re-elected to Congress. They don’t represent any of us. And their childish Tea Party views — which have no basis in sound economic theory — are making us look like fools to our international partners.

Seaman also points to this column by John Avlon at CNN, “Our stupid self-inflicted debt crisis.”

…if America defaults on its debt, not only will we find ourselves in a far deeper fiscal hole, but the full faith and credit of the United States will be compromised. In our globalized era, that means America will be considered an unpredictable partner and a second-class power.

Worst of all, this will be a self-inflicted wound. It is a direct result of the hyper-partisanship that has been hijacking America’s political debates. Now it is compromising our ability to govern ourselves effectively.

The markets are viewing Washington’s debt dysfunction as badly as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, which have raised the possibility of downgrading their ratings of U.S. bonds.

The British government’s business secretary, Vince Cable, summed up the situation as he saw it on the BBC this weekend: “The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow morning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters in the American Congress.”

Avlon blames the mess on “hyper-partisanship,” but the problem as I see it is that the Democratic side–especially our Reagan-adoring President–is showing no partisanship at all, just rushing to cave in to every Republican demand. After all, Obama could quickly resolve this situation, as Daknikat pointed out yesterday, by “invoking the 14th Amendment.”

At FDL, David Dayen points out, rather sarcastically, that Obama “has options to raise the debt limit.” He could tell Congress to vote on the debt limit and hold the arguments about cuts and taxes till later, as Elizabeth Drew suggested at Politico. Alternatively, Dayen says he could turn to the 14th amendment. Obama has so far dismissed this possibility.

Finally, Dayen points to an article in Friday’s NYT by two conservatives.

PRESIDENT OBAMA should announce that he will raise the debt ceiling unilaterally if he cannot reach a deal with Congress. Constitutionally, he would be on solid ground. Politically, he can’t lose. The public wants a deal. The threat to act unilaterally will only strengthen his bargaining power if Republicans don’t want to be frozen out; if they defy him, the public will throw their support to the president. Either way, Republicans look like the obstructionists and will pay a price….

Our argument is not based on some obscure provision of the 14th amendment, but on the necessities of state, and on the president’s role as the ultimate guardian of the constitutional order, charged with taking care that the laws be faithfully executed.

When Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, he said that it was necessary to violate one law, lest all the laws but one fall into ruin. So too here: the president may need to violate the debt ceiling to prevent a catastrophe — whether a default on the debt or an enormous reduction in federal spending, which would throw the country back into recession.

A deadlocked Congress has become incapable of acting consistently; it commits to entitlements it will not reduce, appropriates funds it does not have, borrows money it cannot repay and then imposes a debt ceiling it will not raise. One of those things must give; in reality, that means that the conflicting laws will have to be reconciled by the only actor who combines the power to act with a willingness to shoulder responsibility — the president.

Abe Lincoln did it, but Obama claims he can’t? Seaman, Avlon, and Vince Cable so far are holding their fire on Obama’s role in this embarrassing mess. But he is the one who is ultimately responsible for maintaining the full faith and credit of the U.S. Treasury. That credit has already been harmed by Obama’s failure to act decisively.

I’d say it’s high time to begin impeachment proceedings against this President, or failing that, Democrats should find someone to run against him in the 2012 primaries. This nonsense has gone on long enough. Yes, I understand that Obama wants to gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but the Republicans aren’t going to accept a deal when it’s blatantly obvious that they still can get more from this President–he’ll cave on anything. Either Obama needs to get a grip and do the right thing for once, or he needs to find a job he can handle and let someone else lead the United States of America.

40 Comments on “Try Boehner and Cantor for Treason? What about Obama?”

  1. dakinikat says:
    July 25, 2011 at 1:07 pm

    Looks like Reid is caving big time:

    GOP Stumbles Over Surprise Dem Debt Limit Offer

    Republicans have been tight-lipped so far about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s surprise offer of $2.7 trillion in spending cuts — and no tax revenue — to raise the debt limit through 2012.

  2. dakinikat says:
    July 25, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    We’re officially a one party system.

  3. dakinikat says:
    July 25, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    • Peggy Sue says:
      July 25, 2011 at 4:09 pm

      I check Naked Capitalism regularly and saw this piece this morning. On point. As you mentioned just the other day, Dak–it’s not as if POTUS does not have options to resolve this nonsense. Invoke the 14th Amendment. Now.

      The problem is that Obama does not have the will, the spine and is only concerned about reelection. And the GOP? They’ve absolutely lost their minds, allowed a bunch of freshman representatives to stick it to the whole country. And the Dems, instead of howling mightily are caving like a bunch of tin soldiers. If austerity measures were the right way to go then Europe should be experiencing record good times. Instead what we’re seeing is the whole Euro plate crumble and teeter towards massive bankruptcy, while the small countries are looted in a fire sale.

      A lot of this is trying to hide the dirty deed–that the mighty world of finance and corporate malfeasance has brought the world to its knees through gobsmacking greed and corruption and that the politicians were their willing handmaidens.

      We need that giant red reset button with someone like William Black manning the switch. These thieves belong in jail.

      • dakinikat says:
        July 25, 2011 at 4:18 pm

        well, like Yves said in the vid and BB has said for over 4 years, he’s had his eye on social security for his Wall Street masters and the Medicare/Medicaid for his Insurance Overlords, forever …

  4. dakinikat says:
    July 25, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) outlined the GOP’s debt-ceiling plan to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh on Monday before showing it to his conference.

  5. The Heretik says:
    July 25, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    The Grand Bargain has turned into quite a grand mess. Elizabeth Drew had an interesting piece in the NY Review of Books (this issue) BTW. What I think we are witnessing here is what happens when politics policy, particularly when people hoped there was change and policy could actually drive politics. Sigh. A mess.

    http://www.manarewescrewed.com/?p=2090

    Oy.

    • dakinikat says:
      July 25, 2011 at 4:17 pm

      I read that yesterday. Too bad she didn’t see it coming earlier. NOW, when we are all screwed, she starts using her head.

  6. Riverbird says:
    July 25, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    Is anyone going to watch Obama tonight as he ‘talks to the nation’? I don’t have the stomach for it.

    • dakinikat says:
      July 25, 2011 at 4:26 pm

      Boehner’s got a follow up presser too so if you want to binge and purge, now is the time.

    • bostonboomer says:
      July 25, 2011 at 4:32 pm

      I’ll listen to it on the radio, but I can’t stand to look at him. I’ll post a live blog a little before 9 so we can document the atrocities. I wonder how Obama is going to get SS and Medicare, Medicaid back on the table now that Reid has taken them off?

  7. bostonboomer says:
    July 25, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    Harry Reid’s plan calls for $2.7 trillion in cuts, but no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. That’s why Yglesias says he’s calling Boehner’s bluff. Boehner is upset because there aren’t any cuts to “entitlements” in it, even though the cuts are more than he asked for. Instead, Reid’s plan calls for reductions in spending on Iraq and Afganistan.

  8. Pat Johnson says:
    July 25, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    Please, someone with some guts please step forward and primary Obama before there is nothing left in the larder but rat poison!

    Not only is he about to give away all of our possessions, he has gracefully offered to help load the truck as the Repugs drive away with the goods.

    PRIMARY HIM! NOW! There has to be at least one sane Dem left in congress willing to challenge this devastation before we find ourselves standing in the presence of President Perry.

  9. bostonboomer says:
    July 25, 2011 at 5:06 pm

    Bernie Sanders on GAO investigation of Fed:

    Among the investigation’s key findings is that the Fed unilaterally provided trillions of dollars in financial assistance to foreign banks and corporations from South Korea to Scotland. In my view, no agency of the United States government should be allowed to bail out a foreign bank or corporation without the direct approval of Congress and the president.

    The GAO also determined that the Fed lacks a comprehensive system to deal with conflicts of interest, despite the serious potential for abuse. In fact, according to the report, the Fed provided conflict-of-interest waivers to employees and private contractors so they could keep investments in the same financial institutions and corporations that were given emergency loans.

    For example, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase served on the New York Fed’s board of directors at the same time that his bank received more than $390 billion in financial assistance from the Fed. Moreover, JP Morgan Chase served as one of the clearing banks for the Fed’s emergency lending programs.

    The GAO investigation also revealed that the Fed outsourced virtually all of the operations of its emergency lending programs to private contractors like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The same firms also received trillions of dollars in Fed loans at near-zero interest rates. Altogether some two-thirds of the contracts that the Fed awarded to manage its emergency lending programs were no-bid contracts. Morgan Stanley was given the largest no-bid contract, worth $108.4 million, to help manage the Fed bailout of AIG.

    • JeanLouise says:
      July 25, 2011 at 5:52 pm

      I find Ron Paul generally loathesome but he’s been harping on the Fed for years. It appears that he was right to do so.

  10. Minkoff Minx says:
    July 25, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    Evening reads coming a bit late today, bad storm here in Banjoville and the electricity is going on and off.

  11. Pat Johnson says:
    July 25, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    If the Sox aren’t rained out tonight, I will take a pass on Obama’s speech and allow the rest of youto parse it for me.

    My take on what he’ll say:

    “Folks, although I have offered to hand over the entire leadership to the Repugs, and am also considering throwing my own two kids into the bargain to show I “mean business”, they still won’t budge.

    So for all you seniors, soldiers, and federal employees out there, I can only say how sorry I am that you may not be receiving those monthly checks. Perhaps you can “tap” Mr. Boehner or Mr. Cantor for a donation (insert giggle here to show his sense of humor) but don’t blame me.

    Just a heads up to those in nursing homes, start packing. Never too early to get a head start. Did I say Head Start? Oops, that’s going too.

    Good night and God bless the United States of America!”

    I can feel that “tingle” from here.

    • dakinikat says:
      July 25, 2011 at 6:09 pm

      I’m giving a final to my MBA finance class. I’m wondering if everything I taught them will go out the window in the next few days. Forgot my ear buds so I’m going to rely on the folks here for the low down.

    • bostonboomer says:
      July 25, 2011 at 6:29 pm

      I think his speech will be a whine about how he wants to gut our social security and medicare, but the mean old Republicans are thwarting him in his efforts. Because he just knows the American people want to give the Social Security and Medicare funds to Wall Street.

  12. northwestrain says:
    July 25, 2011 at 6:42 pm

    Add Sen Harry Reid to the list.

    He is determined to have that 12 member super committee — he probably expects to be one of the “chosen”.

    http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2011/07/25/latest-democrat-sen-harry-reid-proposal/

    ” •Establishes 12-member joint Congressional Cmte to find future savings. To find additional savings.

    Cmte’s recommendations will be guaranteed up/down vote in Senate, without amendment, by the end of 2011.”

    The dems really do want to KILL Soc. Security & Medicare etc.

  13. WomanVoter says:
    July 25, 2011 at 8:18 pm

    Don’t anyone faint, but Tweety wants Big Dawg to be Secretary of The Treasury and Hillary to continue to serve as Secretary of State. 😆 Oh, he went on to add that Big Dawg spends hours a day trying to figure out this financial situation out… 😆 and he did after all leave the country with a surplus….

    Prior to this he had on some Republicans talking about 2016 and Jeb Bush winning the White House… I guess Jeb gives his leg a tingle too…

    Tweety is has forgotten all the crap he said about Big Dawg and about Hillary:

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