Dine and Dash

You think you're mad, too unstable
Kicking in chairs and knocking down tables
In a retaurant in a West End town
Call the police there's a mad man around
--Pet Shop Boys

Peter Schiff provides a thoughtful add-on to our previous missive about the absurdity of President Obama's 'deadbeat nation' comments. In his press conference, the president likened Republican refusal to raise the debt ceiling to a diner who eats a meal at a restaurant and dashes before paying the bill.

Once again the president demonstrates either his financial ineptitude or his reluctance to articulate the complete story.

The reality of the situation is that the diner has been consuming beyond his/her means, and has no cash from income to pay the bill. The bill must be charged to a credit card. Moreover, the diner has already run up massive debts in pursuit of a profligate lifestyle, and intends to keep charging meals until lenders refuse to foot the bill.

The diner has a spending problem. The diner has consumed all of his/her income and then some to obtain a high standard of living in the here and now.

To avoid being the president's 'deadbeat,' the diner must stop borrowing and curtail consumption so that some income can be diverted to pay the bills.

The president, of course, is proposing nothing of the kind.