Well, of the 75 other times the debt ceiling was raised, has there ever been this much resistance? I'd say there's a moral victory at least.
Both Bush I and Clinton went to the wall, involving actual gov't shutdowns. This wasn't even close to being as close. In the end, the TPers put up a disappointingly feeble fight.
Different issue. A similar gov't shutdown scare/farce has happened under Obama already. But never has there been a fight like this over the debt ceiling. Although one senator (who has obviously changed his mind since) spoke up: "The fact that we are here today to debate raising Americaâs debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government canât pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Governmentâs reckless fiscal policies. ⦠Increasing Americaâs debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that âthe buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." - B.H. Obama, 2006
2008 crisis changed everything. by the time Obama was in office the plan to "safe the banks=save the country" has been implemented and the money injected into the system. could Obama do more damage trying to overturn the plan in progress? was he too gutless/green/young and missed the only opportunity he had to really make a difference as president during his first year (by letting the banks fail)? i don't know the answers. maybe somebody here on ET does.
Some detail here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ted/2011/03/29/gIQANEcGmI_blog.html#pagebreak Look like defense spending was firewalled off from the negotiations.
I got the same impression that defense cuts are not currently a big part of the debt debate. I can understand why. The defense industry is a big employer. Both sides feel this is not the time to cut their steady employment. Defense is still supporting multiple foreign wars. This would appear unpatriotic for any side in the next election. They would be ridiculed for lack of full support of our troops in the field.
Most of my family and cousins run small businesses to make their living. These family members are not all died in the wool Republicans. Many of them come from Democratic households dating to FDR that voted for Obama. The questions my family keeps raising again and again about Obamaâs leadership at family events like our recent picnic are âWhy did Obama not recognize how bad the crisis was in main street America and instead focused government on his Obamacare? Doesnât Obama know how much uncertainty Obamacare, government regulation and lack of bank lending support are causing small businesses today? Why do they want to tax us more in these bad times when our margins are shrinking due to costs sky rocketing ? When are these politicians going to give us some incentive to make capital investments and hire again?â I donât know the answers either Shortie. We are all still waiting for someone to be a leader with a plan to get us out of this mess. Instead the best our current leaders can do is blame each other.