Obama and the Jets

Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
--Elton John

Wasn't aware that there was a 'corporate jet' class until yesterday's press conference. President Obama is cranking up the class warfare rhetoric in what appears to be a sprint toward his base. Not sure that's a good bet, but this is a masterful politician who continues to mesmerize people w/ his rhetorical skills.

Press conferences such as this one are so staged that they have a State apparatus feel. Should a questioner from 'the list' actually ask a tough question, then there is no opportunity for follow-up questions from others if the president says something that merits more probing. Of course, the very chance that the media at large would lob anything other than softballs and free passes at this president seems remote.

I did think two questions/ replies were noteworthy. Early on (~14 min) someone inquired about the Constititionality of several decisions/issues (War Powers Act, debt limit, gay marriage) that the president has recently been involved with or endorsed. The president deflected the question, saying that he was 'not a Supreme Court justice' and that he did not want put his Constitutional scholar hat on about the issues in question. The natural follow-up question would have been, "But Mr President, you swear to uphold the Constitution during your time in office. Shouldn't you therefore be prepared to make a convincing case for the constitutionality of any decision you support/make?"

The most interesting sequence came at the 53-54 min mark. Responding to a question that challenged the credibility of the Aug 2 debt ceiling deadline, the president appeared to go off script and address an "idea that's been floating around Republican circles." The 'idea' he refers to is to not raise the debt limit, and pay interest on debt to avoid default while cutting spending.

Parenthetically, this is clearly doable, btw. In 2010, interest payments amounted to about $200 billion--nearly 6% of outlays.

The president claimed that this would be analogous to him paying his mortgage but not his car note or student loan. No, Mr President, this is not analogous. The 'idea' you credit to 'republican circles' says service the debt with existing funds and cut spending in other areas to do so. Your example seems to equate govt spending programs with debt, which they are clearly not. The president's blunder here in and of itself should have sparked various challenges from the audience but did not.

A more appropriate analogy to our present situation is a Prodigal Son like scenario. The son spends lavishly and racks up big debts. The son then approaches his father saying, "Dad, I need more money from you. I owe my creditors plus I have expenses from my high lifestyle that I would like to maintain." Of course, if the president offered that type of analogy, he would not attract as many sympathizers.

After his failure at analogy, Mr Obama suggested that "for the US government to start picking and choosing is not going to inspire a lot of confidence. Moreover, which bills are we going to decide to pay?"

Unfortunately, the president could not be more wrong. Given our predicament, the only way to inspire confidence is to engage in the very 'picking and choosing' that the president abhors. We need to prioritize, Mr President, and begin tossing sizable govt spending programs onto the scrap heap of history. Return economic control to the people.

Refusal to do so will usher in the largest No Confidence vote in history.