Time to Take Charge; Giffords

02 August 2011 |permalink | email article

Paul Krugman accused President Obama in his Monday New York Times column of surrendering to Tea Party-led Republicans who remain emboldened by the way he keeps folding in the face of their threats
He sees a pattern here.  Last December Obama extended all the Bush tax cuts; he surrendered in the spring when they threatened to shut down the government; and now has surrendered on a grand scale to raw extortion over the debt ceiling.

Did the president have any alternative this time around? Yes, Krugman thinks. First, he could and should have demanded an increase in the debt ceiling back in December. When asked why he didn’t, he replied that he was sure that the Republicans would act responsibly. His view is that Obama could have resorted to other options in legal maneuvers to sidestep the debt ceiling. It’s known that the president had at least two meeting at that time with House Speaker John Boehner, presumably to work out some “grand bargain.” What he did not apparently know at the time, and since, is Boehner is beholden to the Tea Party, and in no position to make deals. When it happens again will Obama act as commander in chief? 

Divided House: A Rare Moment of Unity

In a dramatic moment in the House of Representatives, as the clock was running down, and the debt ceiling compromise did not yet have enough Yeas to pass, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, to rising applause, entered House chamber though a side door. Her arrival prompted a standing ovation that lasted throughout the remainder of the vote, and beyond. She was among the last representatives to cast her ballot, voting yes on the measure as other final votes put the measure over the top. She was mobbed by Democratic colleagues, and a few Republicans. It was the first time she has returned to Washington since she was shot earlier this year in Arizona. Her Twitter account: The #Capitol looks beautiful and I am honored to be at work tonight.Mon Aug 01 23:12:40 via HootSuite Gabrielle Giffords
Rep-Giffords

Quotable

Christine Lagarde, the new head of the International Monetary Fund on CNN, noting that in the past there was always ”a positive bias towards the United States of America, towards Treasury bills.” The events of the past few weeks, she said delicately, are “probably chipping into that very positive bias.”

“It will make us worse off; it is unambiguous in my mind that we have constructed a global system based on the US being a AAA. If the US loses that AAA status, it will be much more difficult for the US to restore growth.” Dr. Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of the investment management firm PIMCO.

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