July 11, 2011 08:12 PM UTC

Obama Scolds Congress on Budget Talks

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: There’s an interesting CBS News story (h/t to SSG_Dan) today about how quickly we forget that a similar fight happened before, under George W. Bush:

Just a few short years ago, a president sent a request to Congress for a simple, but expensive piece of legislation. President Bush asked lawmakers for a $700 billion blank check to rescue the troubled financial sector that was on the verge of collapsing and taking the US economy down with it.

Both parties in Congress balked. And when the Democratic controlled House of Representatives failed to pass the TARP increase, the markets responded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 777 points after the House vote on September 29, 2008. The Senate came to the rescue by passing the program and the House quickly followed suit…

…Could the legislative game of chicken that eventually passed the TARP program be on tap as Washington steams toward the August 2nd date of the Government being unable to pay its bills?

Unfortunately, not. The 777 point drop, the largest single day point drop in history, could look tiny compared to what could happen if the nation’s credibility to pay its debts is challenged. If world markets lose faith in the American economy, there not be a chance for a second vote if there is any failure to raise the debt limit.

We ask the same question that we asked below: If the budget talks crumble and the economy continues to tank, are Republicans really sure that voters won’t blame them come 2012?

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Our friends at “The Fix” give a rundown on President Obama’s press conference this morning:

Obama is quite clearly now using the bully pulpit afforded him by the presidency to cast himself as the adult in the room on the debt ceiling.

One example: He flat-out rejected the idea of a short-term deal – 30, 60, 90 or even 180 days – on the debt ceiling by noting that “this is the United States of America, and we don’t manage our affairs in three-month increments.” (Hard not to hear parental echoes in that line; “That’s not the way we do things in this house….”)

And while Obama avoided taking the sort of direct shots at Republicans that he did during his late June press conference, he still emphasized that adopting a “take your ball and go home” mindset is not acceptable.

“If everybody gets into the boat at the same time, it doesn’t tip over,” Obama said at one point. At another he argued: “American democracy works when people listen to each other.”

Congressional Republicans continue to flat-out refuse to discuss any revenue generating proposals, using the “tax increase” rhetoric as often as they can spit it out. Republicans believe that a down economy probably benefits them politically in 2012 (and some, like Michele Bachmann, are even saying it out loud), but this debate may be happening a year too early for the GOP. If a budget compromise is not reached, a year from now will Americans blame Obama or Republicans in Congress? Republicans may want to make sure that their message isn’t peaking too soon.