In the wake of the news that Boehner bagged the $4 trillion "grand bargain," John wrote "we are all being played here." Well, the playing continues today.
Last night, Congressional leaders met with the President to continue "negotiations" over the debt limit. Nothing happened. They're all going to meet again today. Before that meeting, however, the President will hold a press conference in the White House press briefing room. This is all part of the White House campaign for a grand bargain (or to prove the GOPers don't want one.) From The Hill:
Obama and leaders from both parties agreed to meet again Monday at the White House at a time to be determined.Not sure if anyone knows where this will lead. Although, we've seen in the past that Republicans seem to get more by not negotiating.
The White House announced Obama would hold an 11 a.m. press conference Monday on the debt talks as Democrats appeared ready for a a public push to pressure Republicans to accept a grand bargain in the hopes that the GOP will be blamed if a large accord is not struck.
The debt limit has to be increased by August 2nd. And, one way or another, that will happen, according to Mitch McConnell:
“Nobody is talking about not raising the debt ceiling; I haven’t heard that discussed by anybody,” the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that he had an unspecified “contingency plan” to raise the ceiling if the talks fell apart.Obama is going to keep pushing for a big deal -- and who knows what else will end up in that mix. The GOPers sure aren't budging. I think we've moved up another dimension in the game of chess. None of us mere mortals are savvy enough to fully understand what's going on here.
Meanwhile, no one seems focused on creating jobs. That's what Obama should be seeking a grand bargain on. Krugman:
The truth is that creating jobs in a depressed economy is something government could and should be doing. Yes, there are huge political obstacles to action — notably, the fact that the House is controlled by a party that benefits from the economy’s weakness. But political gridlock should not be conflated with economic reality.GOPers do benefit from "the economy's weakness." And, the debate they're having with Obama right now does nothing to improve the economy.
Our failure to create jobs is a choice, not a necessity — a choice rationalized by an ever-shifting set of excuses.
