Debt Crisis - The President Has No Plan

A lot of republicans who had gone On the Record with Greta Van Susteren on Fox had complained that President Obama had not presented a plan to solve the debt crises. Even the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) director Douglas Elmendorf remarked, "We don't estimate speeches. We need much more specificity than was provided in that [April 13, 2011 budget] speech for us to do our analysis."

In President Obama's defense, I say that it is not the duty of the Office of the President to come up with a budget that would pass both houses of Congress. It is the Congress that holds the nation's purse strings. Having said that, I also maintain that President Obama could be dollar-specific with his budget in leading this country out of its $14.5 trillion public debt, see http://www.usdebtclock.org/

The reason that President Obama is unable or unwilling to be specific is that he does not want to his executive decisions to be limited by a budget. After all, who can renovate a home without money or credit?

Republicans do not want this President to spend anymore money the Unites States does not have. They want to cut spending and refuse to raise taxes.

To cut spending means no new spending. No new spending means no new programs, and it is new spending for new programs that define a presidency, positively or negatively.

In the case of GW Bush, his recklessness in spending is still costing the United States and world today in terms of economics and human suffering. In the case of Barack Obama, the verdict is still out, even though it is not looking good for him. This debt crisis impasse, even if resolved next week, may mark the beginning of the end of his one-term presidency.

President Obama can probably hear it already: No budget. No leadership. No jobs.

Perhaps there is a speech that he could give. Better yet, a prayer that he could say.