COMMENTARY | The Democrats are playing a dangerous end game on the debt ceiling and the result is a possible win for Barack Obama in the 2012 election. The Republicans have taken a hard line and are willing to let the United States go into default. This is exactly what the Democrats want to happen.
If the United States goes into default, the Republicans will be the scapegoat for the failing economy in the next year and a half before the election. The Democrats will be able to turn the tables and blame the United States devalued credit rating and lower standing in the world economy on the stubborn Democrats.
ABC News posted the anatomy of a debt default and their graphic and story lays the groundwork to make the Republicans look like the bad guys in this battle. The battle over the debt ceiling will become a major talking point in the next three weeks and the focus will be on the Republicans refusal to budge.
Republicans need to learn they have the upper hand. They can send a debt limit approval tied to only cuts, no taxes and send it to the Democrat controlled Senate. If the Senate sends the debt limit approval to the White House with just spending cuts and no taxes, Obama will be responsible for the default and the Republicans will have the edge.
The Republicans have to get a debt limit approval through the House of Representatives and the Senate and on Obama's desk quickly and then his refusal to sign will be the perfect end game for the Republicans in 2012. They will be able to claim victory and Obama go down as the only president to allow the country to go into default.
People struggling to resist claiming bankruptcy will now have an out. The government can default, why can't they? The ramifications have not been thought through. A government default sends a message to the nation and the world. The United States government is in such disarray they cannot honor their obligations.
The House of Representatives has the keys to the car and they can drive the president to the brink with no option but to sign off on the cuts and his ability to expand the government ends in dramatic fashion.
The next three weeks will tell voters if they need to vote out the incumbents or hail them as heroes in the next election. History will happen in the next three weeks. Will it be the end of this country or a new beginning of bipartisan cooperation?
