Will Obama Cave On Extending The Debt Ceiling?

By Yashwanth Manjunath

Paul Abrams has an interesting strategy for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to follow during the impending debate over raising the debt ceiling:

Sit back and let Wall Street lobbyists do battle with the Tea Party nutjobs they elected to Congress. Let PIMCO explain to them what will happen to their bondholdings. And, Goldman Sachs can explain what it would do to the stock markets. Let the hedgies inform them about who buttered their bread. …No negotiations. No discussions. No deals. No way. No how.

If President Obama were to show strength during these negotiations then it would set up an interesting battle between the lunatic Tea Party characters and their Wall Street masters. The Wall Street masters would inevitably win, because risking a game of “chicken” with the debt ceiling is NOT what they had in mind when they spent their money electing the Tea Party to serve them. But does President Obama have the strength and the political brinkmanship to allow these events to unfold properly? Or will Obama instead choose to make painful compromises on spending cuts with the rabid Tea Party Congress people eager to continue this country on a path to modern-day aristocracy?

My guess is Obama does NOT take Abrams’ advice and caves on this issue, just like he did with the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. So look to see the Republicans damage this country even more with their hostage-taking by “negotiating” cuts to Social Security, or federal education spending, or health care (or all of the above). And look for the joke we call the press in this country to climax over the titillating sensation they receive anytime something “bipartisan” happens in Washington.

I could be wrong, but I’m not usually.

By: