More and more confusion

I've been away for two days helping my daugther move, so I have missed much of the back and forth about the debt ceiling debate. to tell the truth, I have not missed much. Indeed, in the last week, what seems to have happened is that the level of confusion has just gotten higher and higher. We are now two weeks away from Obama's drop dead date for default with no apparent resolution in sight. Things like the Gang of Six plan keep popping up at a point where there is almost no chance of such a complicated plan being reduced to writing and getting passed within the remaining time. Indeed, the most likely outcome is that we will shortly see some sort of short term compromise that will allow for more talk.

One thing that has been made clear, however, is who is and who is not a responsible person when it comes to governing. For example, I saw Herman Cain on the Sunday talk shows telling the world that there is no need to raise the debt ceiling. That is just nonsense, an Cain either knows that or is an ignoramus. Sure, there may be additional time in the days after August 3 when the debt ceiling does not have to be raised, but that is a matter of a few weeks, not unlimited time. Talk like that of Cain or Bachmann is irresponsible in my opinion. Similarly, the Obama rant about vetoing short term solutions and suddenly going for the "big" deal after months of Obama pushing for increased spending and a "clean" debt ceiling increase is also irresponsible. Rather than posturing for the election, the president ought to be leading. Hopefully, Obama's disgraceful performance will help see to it that he loses in his bid in 2012.