The Trillion-Dollar Platinum Coin
There is a new idea racing through the chattering classes for how President Obama could avoid the debt ceiling. It’s simple: He instructs the Treasury to mint a $1 trillion coin made of platinum that...
View ArticleWhen Obama Voted Not to Pay the Bills
President Obama used the last press conference of his first term today to continue attacking Republicans for even thinking about using the debt ceiling as leverage to force him to accept spending cuts....
View ArticleBarack Obama, Negotiator
At his press conference yesterday: The president demanded that the Republicans surrender their most powerful bargaining chip—the debt ceiling—first and then “I’m happy to have a conversation about...
View ArticleDenier Label a Way to Avoid Debt Debate
The administration and its media allies are ramping up the pressure on Republicans determined not to vote for another hike in the debt ceiling without a meaningful agreement from the White House about...
View ArticleTime-Out May Be the GOP’s Best Option
The top news out of the House Republican retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia is that the party is considering a short-term extension of the debt limit in order to give the party more time to try and...
View ArticleRepublicans Avoid a Political Pickett’s Charge
Two-and-a-half weeks ago I wrote a post urging Republicans to back away from a confrontation with President Obama over raising the debt ceiling and warning them against engaging in high-profile...
View ArticleRand Auditions for Role of Insurgent Leader
Senator Chuck Schumer earned some chuckles among Democrats when he said today that the decision by House Republicans to suspend any limits on the national debt for three months was evidence that “The...
View ArticleNext Recession Belongs to Obama, Not GOP
Democrats spent the 2012 presidential campaign successfully blaming George W. Bush for the country’s sluggish economy. But a week after President Obama’s second inaugural, they are still not taking...
View ArticleIs Boehner’s Endgame a Debt Deal?
It’s day two of the government shutdown and, contrary to the expectations of optimists on both sides of the political divide, neither House Speaker John Boehner nor President Obama appears to be...
View ArticleNo Deal Yet? Blame Obama’s Credibility Gap
This morning House Republicans are meeting to discuss ideas floated by Rep. Paul Ryan to avert a showdown over the debt ceiling. Ryan, who outlined his proposal in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal is,...
View ArticleAnother Dem “No” Could Be a Big Mistake
After weeks of heeding the calls to confrontation from their most hard-line members, the House Republican leadership has taken a step toward at least a partial settlement of the current fiscal...
View ArticleThe Democratic Moment Won’t Last
With days to go before the artificial deadline set for the national debt ceiling to expire, there’s little doubt that Democrats believe the political pendulum has swung in their direction. Polls show...
View ArticleThe Wages of Default
There has been much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth over the prospect that the United States Government might actually default if Congress and the President can’t agree to raise the debt...
View ArticleThe GOP Chooses Surrender Over Suicide
After more than two weeks, it appears that a deal is in place to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. The bargain that has been agreed to in principle by the leaders of the Senate...
View ArticleIs the Shutdown Caucus Happy Now?
Yesterday’s farcical failure of House Speaker John Boehner to get enough members of his own party to commit to supporting his compromise measure to reopen the government and extend the debt ceiling...
View ArticleCan a Deadbeat America Stay on Top?
In the 19th century, individual deadbeats could go to prison and countries that defaulted on their debt could be invaded. To choose only two examples of many, Britain invaded Egypt in 1882 and the U.S....
View ArticleCruz’s Lack of Surprise is Surprising
Senator Ted Cruz reacted to the collapse of the strategy that he had urged on the Republican Party with remarkable sangfroid today. While saying that he would not seek to block the agreement to end the...
View ArticleWill GOP Rescue Obama with Debt Fight?
Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threw down the gauntlet again on the debt ceiling. Speaking to reporters in Washington, McConnell made it clear that Senate Republicans wouldn’t...
View ArticleRepublicans Dodge Debt Ceiling Disaster
When House Speaker John Boehner told a shocked Republican caucus this morning that he would allow a vote on raising the debt ceiling with no strings attached, it was seen in some quarters as a defeat...
View ArticleMr. Boehner’s Critics
As explained by both Jonathan and our former COMMENTARY colleague Jennifer Rubin, Speaker John Boehner, for entirely understandable reasons–he held no cards–declared he would allow a vote on raising...
View Article
