For Americans disgusted by what they have seen from Washington over the past few weeks, Obama sought to put the onus on Republicans for the stalemate. “The American people may have voted for divided government,” he said, “but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government.”
Boehner was just as clear in casting the president as the obstacle. Obama, he said, came to office and led the country on a spending binge that included “a new health care bill that most Americans never asked for; a stimulus bill that’s more effective in producing material for late-night comedians than it was in producing jobs; and a national debt that has gotten so out of hand, it’s sparked a crisis without precedent in my lifetime or yours.”
He also accused Obama of standing in the way of an agreement. “Unfortunately the president would not take yes for an answer,” the speaker said. “Even when we felt we might be close to an agreement, the president’s demands changed. The president has often said we need a balanced approach, which in Washington means: ‘We spend more and you pay more.’ ”
And, Boehner said, Obama wants another blank check to continue what he has been doing. The speaker added, “That is just not going to happen.”
So one reality is that there is not yet a path to agreement, only more nail-biting days of test votes, strategy sessions, back-channel talks and public reassurances that default is not an option.
The other new reality is that the goal now is simply to avoid default. The president may talk of a grand bargain, but hopes for that expired over the weekend. It is now up to the two sides to find something short of that to prevent the kind of economic havoc that financial experts predict could begin soon after next Tuesday’s deadline.
Monday’s speeches by the president and the speaker may have achieved the political ends they and their advisers sought. But collectively, they did little to show a way out of the box they have created for the country.
Read more on PostPolitics.com
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