Obama Asks Americans To Call Congress

The servers are crashing because of the response. President Obama addressed the nation on the debt issue and also the whole idea of the debt ceiling tonight. For political junkies like myself it was nothing new. He stressed his approach for a balance between programs cuts and revenue hikes. He spelled out what a default on our debt would mean both in terms of social security checks and pensions not going out but also the lowering of our bond rating and a rapid rise in the interest rates. He studious gave John Boehner credit for working with him on this but said that a certain group of Republicans in the House refused to compromise.

President Obama suggested that the Senate way was perferable because we wouldn't have to go through all this again in six months. He did note that the same thing would happen next time the debt ceiling came up and that the House plan would still jeopardize the bond rating. He closed by asking Americans to contact their representatives about whether they support a balanced approach and compromise. He mentioned that people in Washington now believe that compromise is a dirty word.

John Boehner took the fight to the President, accusing the President of creating a crisis atmosphere. He said that the House had passed the Cut, Cap and Balance bill. he lied about it being bipartisan. He also didn't mention that it would be more draconian than the Ryan Plan and that the Senate refused to even consider it. He indicated that he would put forth a bill that would cut services by 1.5 trillion for six months.

He also mentioned the Super Congress and tried to explain why it was better than the Catfood Commission by saying it included elected officials--which the debt Commission did also. He made the case that the debt issue was Obama's, claming the Health reform Bill, "which no one wanted" and the stimulus package, which was good for jokes on late night talk shows, caused the whole thing. And he accused President Obama of wanting a blank check--which is also not true.

Boehner tweeted that "I never thought I would go up against the President of the United States tonight."

Early polls actually had it a tie--which was unbelievable for me. Our ace media commented on this as a political fight and not something with economic consequences. They didn't think having anyone with expertise was worth it. They also didn't get how many times Boehner lied during the speech. Only Chris Matthews tag him on his statement that a bipartisan plan had passed the House.

One little missing element in the coverage of both speeches is that the Teajadists have rejected Boehner's plan as outlined tonight. They did this by 4:00Pm, some five hours before the speech. So Boehner was petulant and bragging when what he talked about is already dead in his own Caucus. It will have to come down to Democrats voting with Republicans to get anything done. It looked like Harry Reid was laying low today because he knows what's coming down the pike.

So who was the person John Boehner first cleared his new plan with? That great economist--Rush Limbaugh. I kid you not. That's how low we've fallen.

Personally, I don't think anything will happen until Wednesday.

I don't know about you but I'm tired of this subject and so are most Americans. Congressional Republicans have a massive ideological victory to win here, while all of us are sleeping. Their object is to bring Obama down but are willing to take the economy down with him. Of course, no one has gamed out the results of that for the future of America. But I can promise you it would be grim.

More later.