Obama Tells Republicans to Forget About Causing Another Debt Ceiling Debacle

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 01:50 am

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Here is a late starting video that missed the beginning of his remarks:

Instead of taking a fiscal cliff victory lap, President Obama used his statement to land the first blows in the debt ceiling debate.

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Obama praised the bipartisanship of the deal, and specifically mentioned Boehner, Biden, McConnell, Reid, and Pelosi. The president stressed the increase in revenue, and the extension of unemployment benefits. He called the fiscal cliff deal one step, and said that the deficit is still too high. The president said that he is chipping away at the deficit problem, step by step.

The president said he is very open to compromise, and he believes that we have to find ways to reform Medicare without hurting seniors, but he warned Republicans that we can’t cut our way to prosperity. He mentioned closing tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy.

Obama said he will negotiate over many things, but he won’t have another debate with Congress over whether or not we should pay our bills. The president said we can’t go down the path of another fiscal cliff drama again. He said that his concept of everyone should pay their fair share has now been enshrined into law.

The president said that we can come together as Democrats and Republicans and settle this debate without it being so all consuming that it prevents us from dealing with other issues. He said we have an obligation to ourselves to tackle other issues from jobs and the economy to gun violence and immigration.

It is interesting that the president preemptively struck down the Republican idea that they could take their losses on a fiscal cliff deal, but get it all back by throwing the nation into chaos over the debt ceiling.

The president has been stressing that it is going to be a different ballgame on the debt ceiling in 2013, and he started laying the groundwork for his efforts on that issue tonight.

What was striking was Obama’s tone. This wasn’t a president taking a victory lap. President Obama was more like a shark who smells blood in the water. I suspect that his fiscal cliff triumph has only whetted his appetite for more. The president and Republicans have two very different ideas about how Medicare can be reformed, and it looks the Medicare fight is one that Obama is anxious to have.

President Obama looks ready to press his advantage, and he has already landed the first blows in what will certainly be a bruising debt ceiling debate.



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