After hearing all of the negative comments on this board and across the internet about how the US economy will go into a tailspin if we don't increase the debt ceiling on August 2nd, and how the Republicans are using this to manufacture a huge economic crisis to gut the nation's safety net at the behest of their Wall Street and Tea Party supporters, I'm tempted to tell the President to just tell the GOP to "Go screw themselves." I actually think it's the best strategy we have right now.
According to various news reports, global financial markets are panicking at the thought of the USA defaulting on its debts, and in some cases the markets are already going down drastically in anticipation of the debt ceiling not being raised. However, President Obama has practically appeared to cave in to all of the Republican demands to raise the debt ceiling with the exception of closing loopholes for big oil and corporate jets in order to raise tax revenues, yet the GOP has balked at every turn. It also appears that a huge number of House Republicans will vote against raising the debt ceiling no matter what is proposed in order to bring down the President.
Frankly, I think we should let the negotiations fail. Let the markets panic this week and show the GOP exactly what their intransigence will do to create a worldwide economic depression. Let the entire world know that the GOP is responsible for creating this crisis and have Wall Street peeing its collective pants on August 1st. Then in primetime on that same day, President Obama should hold a televised address to the nation showing exactly why and how the Republicans created this crisis, chastise all of them for doing so, then invoke his powers under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling through 2013. The markets will rally, he will be looked at as a hero for saving the economy, and most of all, there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. The GOP will scream bloody murder at this move, but their credibility will be shot to hell by this point, and the nation will be solidly behind the President.
Sure, he may be creating a Constitutional crisis by invoking the 14th Amendment, but why shouldn't he dare the Supreme Court to overturn this? This will take several months to go through the court system anyway, and if the Court (even this most corrupted Supreme Court) even threatens to overturn this move, it will only expose the ugliest partisan leanings of this current Supreme Court, and hopefully, it will encourage the people to demand the impeachment of the most partisan jurists.