The President Surrenders: Paul Krugman : NYT

It was up in the discussion forum yesterday, but if you missed it, here it is:


The President Surrenders
By PAUL KRUGMAN
July 31, 2011

For the deal itself, given the available information, is a disaster, and not just for President Obama and his party. It will damage an already depressed economy; it will probably make America’s long-run deficit problem worse, not better; and most important, by demonstrating that raw extortion works and carries no political cost, it will take America a long way down the road to banana-republic status.

.... there are the reported terms of the deal, which amount to an abject surrender on the part of the president. First, there will be big spending cuts, with no increase in revenue. Then a panel will make recommendations for further deficit reduction — and if these recommendations aren’t accepted, there will be more spending cuts.

Republicans will surely be emboldened by the way Mr. Obama keeps folding in the face of their threats. He surrendered last December, extending all the Bush tax cuts; he surrendered in the spring when they threatened to shut down the government; and he has now surrendered on a grand scale to raw extortion over the debt ceiling. Maybe it’s just me, but I see a pattern here.

It is, of course, a political catastrophe for Democrats, who just a few weeks ago seemed to have Republicans on the run over their plan to dismantle Medicare; now Mr. Obama has thrown all that away. And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.

Read the full article at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/opinion/the-president-surrenders-on-debt-ceiling.html?src=me&ref=general

Obama is either a coward, or he is one of them and has been from the beginning. I honestly do not know which. But a lot of people in Washington DO know which and aren't telling...

and people are back in their trance.... what is it that vampires do when they stare into your eyes and convince you to offer your carotid artery?

And the damage isn’t over: there will be more choke points where Republicans can threaten to create a crisis unless the president surrenders, and they can now act with the confident expectation that he will.

This is now going to happen every month or so, now that he has shown himself to be a coward with no principles whatsoever.

We can start by demanding President Obama to not seek a second term.
With all due respect, please allow us the opportunity to seek another candidate that will actively protect and expand the core Democratic principles of labor rights, care for the less fortunate, and the equality of all people.
I do not intend to castigate the President - he is what he is. I just want better.

Hasn't Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida taught us about elections? Look at Tennessee -- no paper trail whatsoever. All that is left at this point is to organize the resistance.