Jasper Journal

As I sit here this morning the news is about the proposed agreement on raising the debt ceiling.  Many details are not available; however,  several things stick out immediately.  First after a quick cut in expenditures , the hard work will be done later by a super-committee of six democrats and six republicans. As if they will agree to anything?

If they cant agree or if it doesnt pass congress, then automatic cuts will come into effect: as much as 50% from defense and 50% from social programs. This is supposed to be so onerous that it will force the committee to agree.

This trigger mechanism is already raising eyebrows.  Why is the defense of the country being held as a counterbalance to social programs? Dont the democrats care about defense? Would they be willing to sabotage the country to preserve sacred social programs to get reelected?

At least the debate is started and the president and congress are on notice that business as usual is over. I am not totally happy with the end result, but I am not totally unhappy either. We will get more of the details in the next day.  Thank God we had  Tea Party members standing firm.  Otherwise we wouldnt even be having this discussion.

Like most of you , I have been following the debt negotiations closely over the last several weeks. It is a shame we have to be at this point, but nonetheless we are.  Serious matters are involved and people are being asked to compromise basic principles .  As of this writing, midday on Saturday, we still have a logjam. The president is about to meet privately with Majority leader Reid, and Minority Leader Pelosi. If I were in charge , here is how I would solve this.

For the good of the country, the president announces that he will not seek reelection for a second term. In exchange for this, the debt limit will be raised through 2012. This allows the country to have a true national debate about it’s future,  without the spectacle of a president trying to get reelected.

Could this work? Why not. This president is toxic.  His approval ratings are around 40%  and there have even been calls for a primary challenge from his own party. The republicans will do nothing to give him any victory in the next year if it will help him get reelected as he is so divisive.

So what else is there? He can continue to be a hyper-partisan bully or he can take an extremely courageous approach and offer to stand aside for the good of the country. Lyndon Johnson did it. So could Obama.

The clock is ticking…. what do you think?

I have previously accused the president of being arrogant, petulant, egotistical, hyperpartisan, and mean spirited. Until this weekend,  I never considered him irrelevant.  I do now.

His performance during the debt negotiations has  been  chaotic and vitiolic. He talks about the republicans as if they are the enemy. His daily news conferences have added nothing but fuel on an already incendiary issue.  Then on Friday evening, he made a surprise appearance before the press, blasting the House Speaker  and republicans one more time, and predicting they would cause disaster for the country. 

It was totally unpresidential and basically made him look like a child who didn’t get his way. Shortly thereafter, the House Speaker responded civilly and with facts about what Obama had done during the negotiations. Further, the Speaker decided to stop dealing with the president at all and work directly with Senate leaders. Wow!

If that doesn’t speak volumes about the president I don’t know what does. As of this morning, it looks like a deal may be in the making which calls for cuts,  a panel to review them, and a raising of the debt ceiling until next spring. Obama does not want that as he does not want to face this issue in an election year.

 Well, we will see if he cares about the good of the country, or himself. He  already has threatened to veto such legislation. If he does, it will be squarely on him that the nation for the first time in history defaults on its credit. Will he do it? Will he purposely destroy the economy for his personal political agenda? This will be a telling moment for all.

As for now, he is irrelevant in the negotiations. If he refuses to sign congressionally approved legislation I will add another word to his lexicon: infamous.