McCardle: We're Doomed

She thinks both sides have all but given up on a compromise and are now just positioning themselves for the post-default theater of blame.

I have been thinking about something Dick Morris said. He thinks the White House, the Senate, the media vanguard of the Ever-Growing Liberal Welfare State has misread the situation here.

It's always a mistake to not understand your opponent, and to not differentiate between when he is bluffing, and when he means what he says. Saddam Hussein made that error in 1990, for example. There are plenty of other examples, such as Chamberlain's failure to understand that when Hitler said he'd take over all of Europe, he meant it.

Dick Morris thinks the Liberal Establishment doesn't understand that the House Republicans feel they have a mandate from the people (as, in fact, they do). And that they are only talking among themselves, only chatting each other up about in which way they will win, and in what manner the House Republicans will back down, as they always have before.

They're not considering themselves the need for genuine compromise on the rapid expansion of government. An expansion that was uncompromised, for those keeping track, through the first two years of Barack Hussein Obama's mismanagement.

So they're continuing to assume they're going to win. Why not? All their liberal pundit friends say so, and they've always won every single time before.

They are making the error of not listening to the words their opponents say, and not understanding their opponents are serious.

I think there's a good chance that even if the Republicans began to compromise, Obama would just change his demands yet again and push for further concessions. I think they are trapped in groupthink and happy-ending dreams and don't understand that their opponents here do actually expect them to roll back some of the increases in spending they've pushed (with no compromise) for two years.

So I am beginning to fear there actually may be no deal, and, while maybe no default, a scrambling to pay bills and a possible downgrade of our credit rating, because the liberals just do not understand that sometimes they don't get to win.

The Apocalypse Is Postponed? After threatening default for a month, Obama is now reassuring consumers and banks that there will be no default.

While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned.

In a series of phone calls, administration officials have told bankers that the administration will not allow a default to happen even if the debt cap isn't raised by the August 2 date Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the government will run out of money to pay all its bills, including obligations to bond holders. Geithner made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows saying a default is imminent if the debt ceiling isn't raised, and President Obama issued a similar warning during a Friday press conference after budget negotiations with House Republicans broke down.

Is this blinking? Obama can't continue making the claim that August 2nd is the default trigger date if he's on record reassuring banks that won't happen.

I'd like to see the media follow this up, after Obama's claimed for a month that August 2 was the absolute default drop-dead date, but they won't.

They can't admit the president they all voted for lies to the country on a routine basis.

Meanwhile, Boehner's plan is unlikely to pass the House (not enough cuts) and Obama -- the Great Compromiser, remember -- says he'd veto it anyway, as it does not suitably boost his chances for reelection.

While waiting for Congress to make its next move, the Obama administration today threatened to veto the two-step debt reduction plan put up by House Speaker John Boehner -- though they're pretty sure it won't come to that.

"The speaker's proposal cannot pass the Senate, will not pass the Senate, will not reach the president's desk," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Remember, Obama really just wants his $2.5 trillion to not have the topic of spending come up on the national radar before election day.

posted by Ace at 03:47 PM

| Access Comments