President Obama Addresses The Country In Very Candid Speech About Debt Ceiling Crisis

In a last minute speech last night, President Obama took to the mic to explain America’s debt ceiling issue to the people in terms we can understand.

Putting the current debt concerns in perspective, the President explained how we got to our current situation: going from a surplus in 2000 to a trillion-dollar deficit by the time he got in office. While admitting that both Republicans and Democrats played their part in creating the current deficit, the President went on to break down the balanced plan he, most Democrats, and a few Republicans in Congress have been trying to get passed… which seems to make a lot of sense to us, and would reduce the deficit by four trillion dollars.

Guess what’s holding it up the process though?

Notice how the President made it clear that this is nothing new?

House Speaker John Boehner came back in his own speech, basically claiming that the President is bugging.

“The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today. That is just not going to happen.”

Directly challenging the president, Boehner said there “is no stalemate in Congress.”

He said the Republicans’ newest legislation would clear the House, could clear the Senate and then would be sent to Obama for his signature.

The back-to-back televised speeches did little to suggest that a compromise was in the offing, and the next steps appeared to be votes in the House and Senate on the rival plans by mid-week.

Despite warnings to the contrary, U.S. financial markets have appeared to take the political maneuvering in stride – so far. Wall Street posted losses Monday but with no indication of panic among investors.

Without signed legislation by day’s end on Aug. 2, the Treasury will be unable to pay all its bills, possibly triggering an unprecedented default that officials warn could badly harm a national economy struggling to recover from the worst recession in decades.

Obama wants legislation that will raise the nation’s debt limit by at least $2.4 trillion in one vote, enough to avoid a recurrence of the acrimonious current struggle until after the 2012 elections.

Republicans want a two-step process that would require a second vote in the midst of a campaign for control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

So in other words, y’all want to put a band-aid on this problem instead of giving it the surgery it needs and putting our economy on the path of rehabilitation? Make sense. SMH.

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