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Leadership: Reacting to the U.S. credit downgrade, President Obama gave a damaging statement proving he has learned nothing from his ideological mistakes. A true leader accepts blame — and reality.
The Dow fell Monday by over 634 points in the worst drop since the 2008 financial crisis, a clear reaction to President Obama's politically self-defensive statement on S&P's unprecedented credit downgrade of the U.S.
The president uttered the same disingenuous banalities we've heard for months. He insists "it's not a lack of plans or policies that's the problem here. It's a lack of political will in Washington. It's the insistence on drawing lines in the sand, a refusal to put what's best for the country ahead of self-interest or party or ideology."
Well, you are Washington now, Mr. President.
He's the one who refuses to put his country above the self-interest of himself and his party, so devoted to the cause of ever-expanding big government.
It's Obama who drew an irrational line in the sand on including tax increases in a debt-ceiling deal, drawing out a deal that could have been reached much earlier.
It's the president who in 2008 told Americans that, if he was elected, Washington would find its political will. It turns out, by "political will" Obama means his way or the highway.
Finally, contrary to the president's claims, it most certainly is policy that is to blame for the U.S. downgrade. Just look at the deficit figures for the Obama years.
How appropriate that S&P has also downgraded the government-sponsored enterprise mortgage monsters Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was the politicization of mortgages, with those two public/private entities as enablers, that caused the 2008 financial crisis.
After the 1990s welfare reform, liberals pressured lenders with dark accusations of racism and turned banks into the new income redistributors. The poison of junk mortgages got baked into exotically designed equities and infected the whole global economy.
The cure, according to a liberal president and a Congress under liberal Democratic control was: spend a trillion dollars and have Washington take over health care.
The president was so confident it would work he told NBC's "Today Show": "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's gonna be a one-term proposition."
That arrogant, irrational confidence continues today. His post-stimulus Rx for recovery ranges from a laughable patent reform proposal to more payroll tax relief so that "businesses have more customers next year," plus an extension of unemployment insurance.
The unemployed don't need more government checks; they need a paycheck. And tax cuts should focus on the job creators, not employees.
Real leadership means recognizing that the buck stops with you. This president owns this economy and everyone knows it. But he won't own up to the obvious.
Leadership: If the president meant to calm the markets on Monday, he failed utterly — and no wonder. All he did was make it clear he's completely out of ideas on how to get the economy moving again. After his televised remarks, the Dow industrial average continued to fall, finishing ...
Markets: For the first time, America's good name has been downgraded. So far, the impact on bonds has been small. But the long-term consequences won't be pretty. Back in 1992, Bill Clinton learned that U.S. credit equaled U.S. power. After wrangling with Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, his team ...
Financial Crisis: After downgrading U.S. government debt, S&P also cut ratings on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Maybe now we can honestly discuss their roles in our meltdown. 'The downgrades of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reflect their direct reliance on the U.S. government," Standard & ...
In Don Marquis' classic satirical book, "Archy and Mehitabel," Mehitabel the alley cat asks plaintively, "What have I done to deserve all these kittens?" That seems to be the pained reaction of the Obama administration to the financial woes that led to the downgrading of America's credit rating for ...
War On Terror: The deaths of more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that took out Osama bin Laden may be linked to a loose-lipped vice president and a presidential action figure. The last scene of the 1954 Korean War film "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," based on the James Michener novel, shows a ...
Posted By: moonhawk(40) on 8/9/2011 | 1:42 AM ET
@cnptnow: Right, moron, because ALL republicans are rich aren't they? Never mind that most of the richest congress people are democrats, and the biggest corporations give AT LEAST as much to the Donkeys as to the Pubbies. Oh, but all GOPers are filthy rich...NOT! "I'll buy a clue, Vanna!" Never forget, folks, that half of the country votes Democrat, and half of the country, by definition, has an IQ of less than 100.
Posted By: cnptnow(3125) on 8/9/2011 | 12:35 AM ET
I would think that the GOP loves this economy. Their riches are for the most part locked up in cash and gold. Everyone else, who depends on pensions/mutual funds, etc., is going to the poor house. Again the rich get richer and the middle class and poor get poorer, same as it has been for the last 40 years, when Reagan started it all. Then to top it off, they want their taxes reduced and the taxes increased on the middle class and the poor. I just will never understand their f****** greed.
Posted By: dwdrury(4590) on 8/8/2011 | 11:37 PM ET
Runion obviously suffers from Alzheimer's as he's forgotten Dirty Harry decided not to raise the debt ceiling in December when Queen Nan was still on her throne and Reid himself had a supermajority in CONgress. Instead, he decided to delay until after those elected in November, 2010, were seated. His great idea was to stick partial ownership of the debt increase onto the GOP. Guess what backfired.
Posted By: Ellman(1265) on 8/8/2011 | 11:13 PM ET
One of a narcissist's greatest talent is deflecting responsibility away from himself when he fails. The other side of the coin is giving himself undue credit when things go well (e.g., OBL getting killed).Obama will NOT change. There is no other option but to remove him in 2012.
Posted By: jackndc(85) on 8/8/2011 | 10:59 PM ET
What the public needs to understand is that the economy headed down when the Dems took over Congress in 2007. Electing Obama added fuel to the fire of the Pelosi/Reid recession and turned it into a depression which will continue as long as the current teleprompter-in-chief remains in control.
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