Crybaby: President Obama throws temper tantrum, storms out of debt negotiations
Politico reported:
President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of a stormy debt-limit meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, throwing into serious doubt the already shaky negotiations, according to GOP sourcesAndrew Stiles reported at National Review Online that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor grew frustrated with the Administrations insistence on higher taxes and dwindling spending cuts.
“He shoved back and said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and walked out,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters in the Capitol after the meeting.
Cantor said he told the president that the two sides remain so far apart at this point that he doubted they could get to $2.5 trillion in cuts (to match the debt increase requested by the administration, enough to get through the 2012 election) given the time available. President Obama has said he will not sign any increase to the debt ceiling less than that amount, and Cantor had previously insisted that the House would vote no more than one time to increase the debt limit. Cantor said he was willing to abandon his position in order to allow some kind of short-term measure to increase the debt limit and reassure credit markets while negotiations continue, and asked the president if he would be willing to consider this option.The Chicago Tribune reported that Obama would not yield even if it meant ending his presidency, according to a Republican aide:
At this point, Cantor explained, the president became “very agitated” and said he had “sat here long enough,” that “Ronald Reagan wouldn’t sit here like this” and “something’s got to give.” Obama then told Republicans they either needed to compromise on their insistence on a dollar for dollar ratio of spending cuts to debt increase or agree to a “grand bargain” including massive tax increases. Before walking out of the room, Cantor said, the president told him: “Eric, don’t call my bluff. I’m going to the American people with this.” He then “shoved back” and said “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
"I have reached the point where I say enough," Obama said, according to the aide. "Would Ronald Reagan be sitting here? I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this."A post at the conservative blog Hot Air notes that Democrats have a different take on Obama's actions, and naturally blamed it on Republicans:
The Democratic spin on what happened is that Cantor “rudely” interrupted The One mid-finger-wag and he got huffy and walked out. As for what he means by “going to the American people,” I don’t want to get my hopes up but we might be in store for another 45-minute lecture tomorrow morning about corporate jets.“Cantor’s account of tonight’s meeting is completely overblown. For someone who knows how to walk out of a meeting, you’d think he know it when he saw it,” an unnamed Democratic aide told Politico.
“Cantor rudely interrupted the president three times to advocate for short-term debt ceiling increases while the president was wrapping the meeting. This is just more juvenile behavior from him and Boehner needs to rein him in, and let the grown-ups get to work.“
Obama's tantrum confirms what Florida Republican Allen West told Fox News earlier this week:
“My concern is that we have a President that is not willing to do his job and that is to prioritize the spending. That he is digging in his heels, being very intransigent, and he’s being a rigid ideologue. And he must understand that every single one of his economic policies have failed. So I think it’s time that he realize that he does not have the moral high ground in this argument."On Tuesday, the President said senior citizens may not see their August Social Security checks unless a deal was reached, but Stephen Goss, the Social Security actuary, confirmed such a decision rested with the Administration.
Sean Hannity called Obama a "crybaby President" while discussing the debt ceiling debate with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Wednesday night.
The leaders are set to meet again Thursday.
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