Per ABC News, Obama stormed out of a meeting with Eric Cantor and others when Republicans suggested a short term solution to the debt ceiling dispute because the negotiations were still far apart:
“Don’t call my bluff,” the president said. “I am not afraid to veto and I will take it to the American people.”If Moody’s, the credit rating agency that announced a review of U.S. credit, downgrades the United States, President Obama said, “it will be a tax increase on every American.”There needs to be a long-term debt extension, the president argued.”This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this,” he said.Then he stood up.”Enough is enough,” the president insisted. “We have to be willing to compromise. It shouldn’t be about positioning and politics, and I’ll see you all tomorrow.”Then he left the room.
At the press conference on Monday when Obama said that he would not agree to any short term extensions, I noted those would end up “famous last words.”
He’s locked himself into a position from which he left himself no face-saving means of exit.
Added: More background on the problem, the Democrats were backtracking on promised spending cuts, via NRO:
Cantor expressed a growing frustration over the rapidly dwindling spending cuts believed to have been agreed to in the Biden negotiations, having gone from about $2 trillion in savings to less than $1.4 trillion over the course of several days. As Rich mentioned, much of the discrepancy is the result of Democrats’ taking cuts to mandatory programs and entitlements off the table, and insisting on additional spending. Cantor said this was likely the result of significant disagreement between congressional Democrats and the president.
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