Obama has now unilaterally declared that he lacks the independent power to deal with the debt ceiling. There are some, actually there are many, who believe he has done so because an inability to act on his own is a condition precedent to his ability to claim he had no choice but to cut vital programs. Never has a president gone to such lengths to declare himself so powerless.
If I believed he’d stand firm and blame Republicans for the wreckage I’d feel differently, but I simply can’t believe it. It’s too out of character. There is a theory that they rejected the coin to make it clear to Republicans that there is no way out; that Republicans have to cave. Again, I wish I could believe it, and I hope it’s true, but we have a lot of history here, and none of it furnishes ground for optimism.
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