Update: OBAMA: "THIS MAY BRING MY PRESIDENCY DOWN BUT I WILL NOT YIELD ON THIS"
Zero Hedge ^ | 07/13/2011 | Tyler Durden
Posted on July 13, 2011 8:01:37 PM EDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
The Petulant Teleprompter: Obama "Abruptly" Walks Out Of Debt Negotiations
Update: OBAMA: "THIS MAY BRING MY PRESIDENCY DOWN BUT I WILL NOT YIELD ON THIS" -- REPUBLICAN AIDE; Perhaps Obama may want to put the country ahead of his own interests this one time...
Here is the relevant section in the 14th Amendment that the Constitutional scholar is likely about to invoke. The bolded section is what is largely being ignored.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. Odd how the debt inccured for payment of pensions is being nicely trampled to make way for debt incurred for payment of Federal worker bonuses...
Orignal:
So far the Moody's threat is having precisely zero impact on the debt ceiling farce, with just 8 days left until July 22. But the latest development is certain to jar both S&P and Fitch, not to mention Dagong, out of hibernation. Reuters reports that President Barack Obama abruptly ended a tense budget meeting on Wednesday with Republican leaders by walking out of the room, a Republican aide familiar with the talks said. The aide said the session, the fourth in a row, was the most tense of the week as House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, dismissed spending cuts offered by the White House as "gimmicks and accounting tricks." Either Congress has become the best orchestrated reality TV show in history or, and this is a big or, the market should really consider panicking soon.
Some additional color:
Cantor relayed this quote: "Eric, don't call my bluff," Obama said. "I'm going to take this to the American people." More Cantor: Obama said that the group has until Friday to figure out "which way we're going." They'll meet tomorrow. Odd. Last time we checked far more Americans didn't want a debt ceiling hike than did:
Overall, voters oppose raising the debt ceiling by a strong 45 percent to 32 percent margin, with the remainder undecided.
But the real eye-opener in the poll is the stiff Republican and swing-voter opposition to a deal. Sixty-seven percent of GOP voters and 51 percent of independents think raising the debt ceiling is a bad idea.
Democratic voters, by comparison favored raising the debt ceiling by a 44 to 21 percent margin. Interestingly, 35 percent of Democrats say they are either undecided on the question, or don’t know enough to have an opinion. Perhaps Obama believes GM union members are a representative segment of the broad US population...