The Debt Ceiling Crisis

So here's a quick summary of things so far:

Democrats and Republicans over the past two decades have together racked up insane amounts of national debt which is backed solely by the "full faith and credit" of the US Government. The current crop of Representatives and Senators have to come to grip with the problem and deal with it. Except, they aren't.

On the one side, we have a President who is willing to give on almost everything in order to get a deal done. On the other side, we have a Speaker who is subject to such extreme pressures from the right fringe of his party that he is unable to go from coming out on top in a fight with the President to getting a bill passed. While it must be frustrating to be Mr. Boehner that his own party does not have the intelligence to recognize the absolute stunner of a deal that he managed to negotiate on their behalf, it is even more frustrating to be a reasonable American in this age of right-fringe insanity.

Most reasonable Americans believe that tax breaks for the wealthiest have to end. Those tax breaks do not produce jobs. If they did, then we would not have the jobs situation we do now.

Most reasonable Americans also believe that spending on entitlement programs and on national defense has to be pruned.

Unfortunately, most reasonable Americans are not represented in the debate on the Hill today. Only the fringe elements are. And the right-fringe is particularly well represented.

No Republican leader seems to have the stature to take on the debt-fundamentalists and call their bluff.

Obama has the position to call their bluff but for reasons unfathomable, he won't. He could, right now, sign an Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling by the required amount and order the Treasury to sell more bonds to the Fed. At the same time, he could announce cuts to certain programs to show his commitment to a balanced approach to dealing with the debt crisis. Those two actions would challenge the right-fringe to go to the courts to block the Executive Order increasing the debt ceiling. Those two actions would also show strong, sane leadership in a time of chaos and crisis.

It is not clear to me why he won't take those actions. Perhaps one reason is that he does not quite have it in him to take on the risks that are required when one aspires to greatness. One can only hope that he will recognize that the only constraints on him are the ones that his own thoughts are imposing on him.