Pride is a dangerous thing.
Yesterday, President Obama called out congressional Republicans who’d rather save face than save the nation by agreeing to open the government, but also extended an olive branch to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to negotiate the fiscal fuckery our nation is headed into.
But Boehner, refusing to compromise and back down, wasn’t having it.
He rejected the president’s offer to negotiate a long-term fiscal deal in exchange for temporary measures to end the government shutdown and lift the debt ceiling.
“What the president said today was, if there’s unconditional surrender by Republicans, he’ll sit down and talk to us,” Boehner said. “That’s not the way America works.”
But what the president really said was that if House Republicans re-opened the government and lifted the nation’s borrowing authority, even for a short period of time, he would enter into talks that could include his signature healthcare law and issues related to the debt.
Obama, however, isn’t offering any concessions in exchange for Republicans raising the borrowing limit and ending the shutdown. And Boehner, naturally, isn’t about to not get his way.
“The long and the short of it is, there’s going to be a negotiation here,” Boehner said.
The Speaker said he wants a deal now: “… it’s time to have that conversation — not next week, not next month.”
It doesn’t look like either side is budging, but what’s evident is that we’re headed into default if the Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling.
And that means a nasty recession and a very pissed off Obama. Stay tuned…
SOURCE: The Hill | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
