Reply #28: This is a great post, karynnj. I think many of us are struggling with the same...

[YvonneCa]

...issues you addressed here:

"I suspect it is because those supporters of the President are upset that he has taken a lot of flack - and they are blaming Congress and fail to discriminate between the members."

I don't think most people follow Congress closely enough to discriminate between members...or parties. Then they fall prey to GOP spin that is anti-government in general. That is probably true of many who voted Democratic in 2008...who only relied on the image painted of him during the election.

"In fairness, no one knows if ANYONE could have gotten a better deal - just that this one really stinks. Kerry has said he dislikes the deal, but the US defaulting was unthinkable. (I suspect the Republicans would have scored a bigger victory had that happened. They are correct in saying there is enough money coming in just to pay the interest on the debt, but that means the President choosing who does not get paid - and all answers are wrong. (ie Why does he hate old people, military people, or federal workers, who just do their job? remember the painful sad stories on the FAA people?) I suspect that if there were no deal, there would be low chances of re-election and (more important) it would have been devastating to the economy.

Not only would there have been all the uncertainty problems, the US would suddenly have really implemented an immediate austerity program - essentially operating at a level commensurate with no deficit (ie living off just the revenue coming in as they could not add $1 to debt. This would, in addition to the pain and the disgrace of not paying for things already authorized and contracted for, would completely destroy the economy - far worse than the deal."

Knowing that Obama, Biden and several VERY CAPABLE negotiators worked on this deal, I believe they got the best possible one, given the Tea Party's stance. Default was NOT an option, IMO. I am sure some would not agree with me on this. :) There is also a group of people (probably Dems and Repubs) who won't allow ANY change to SS, Medicare, etc...even modest adjustments over time. I think most Americans are more reasonable than that.

"I suspect that it may be many years before we have a complete answer on why Obama did not use the 14th amendment. It could have been that the SC could have stopped it immediately or it could have been that it would have made the upcoming budget debate with the Republicans horrific. The only bad answer is if was done for political reasons for the President alone."

I originally thought he should use the 14th Amendment, too. I liked when Bill Clinton suggested it...it provided space for that decision, if necessary. But I think it could have been a problem...for both political and practical reasons. GOP would have said it was un-constitutional and started impeachment...right before 2012. So politically, that's bad. BUT the other downside would be the distraction it would be from critical issues of the day that we face and need to debate...climate change, our future economy, fixing our governmental institutions, etc. For me, THAT is a reason not to do it. I'd like to think Obama saw that, too. :hi: