What the White House fears most about the debt limit fight

[DonViejo]

By Greg Sargent, Published: October 3 at 1:15 pm

Right now, the primary fear among senior Obama administration officials is that John Boehner and the GOP leadership don’t grasp just how damaging Obama believes it would be to the remainder of his tenure — and the office of the presidency itself and the proper balance of power between it and Congress — if he were to concede anything in exchange for GOP support for a debt limit hike.

Yesterday’s meeting between Congressional leaders and Obama went some way towards driving that home to the Speaker, senior administration officials believe. But there’s still some worry that perhaps GOP leaders still think the President will fold in the end, and that as a result, they still don’t grasp just how much pressure there is on them to resolve internal party differences that are making it impossible for Boehner to agree to raise the debt limit without extracting concessions Tea Partyers would view as a victory.

Obama and his senior advisers view the debt limit battle as a “must win” fight — not one where the difference can be split in any meaningful sense. They see it as a battle that, if not concluded decisively, could have lasting ramifications not just for this presidency, but for others to follow. Some of this has to do with the electoral calendar. If Obama were to offer up anything meaningful in the way of policy concessions in exchange for a debt limit hike now, that would only make a worse showdown more likely later, particularly in 2014, when members of Congress are up for reelection and Republican lawmakers are facing possible primary challenges, particularly in conservative districts.

Publicly, the President escalated his warnings today about what default would mean for the country, and the Treasury Department released a report warning of the consequences brinksmanship itself would have for the economy.

full article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/10/03/what-the-white-house-fears-most-about-the-debt-limit-fight/

[Filibuster Harry]

1. This president has been disrespected by these Rs from day 1. He and the dems need to stand

strong on this. Need to keep the Affordable Care Act in tact and running. Hey, if there are problems with it come November 2014 then the dems will pay a price; but if it turns out that the american people are liking it and it is working for them then the dems will benefit.

You can't give in to terrorists --now or for the future of other presidents. And that's what the Rs are doing.
Hey, if the Rs are willing to not raise the debt ceiling and the economy tanks and the bond rating goes gets degraded again (that would be two times under Speaker Boehner --remember that under Speaker Boehner -- you know the man who controls this country's purse strings) then so be it. Hey in my mind once the government shutdown over the ACA issue I think S & P should have downgraded us then -- what kind of signal would that have sent?