Will Obama cave on the debt ceiling?

The president repeated again on Monday that he won't negotiate with Congress over the debt ceiling. History suggests otherwise

President Obama
(Image credit: Getty Images)

At his press conference on Monday, President Obama insisted repeatedly that he wouldn't negotiate with congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling, demanding that Congress allow him to pay the bills it has racked up. The House GOP "will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy," he said. For many liberals, this looks like a more politically savvy use of the bully pulpit than Obama has demonstrated previously, the idea being "that he can simply continue to say, 'Do your job,' to Congress when and if they come to him seeking concessions in exchange for it, and refuse to have any further conversation," says Molly Ball at The Atlantic. But "that's a little difficult to believe," given that "Obama has often drawn supposed lines in the sand before only to negotiate them away."

That's the heart of Obama's "credibility problem" in these hostage negotiations, says Matthew Yglesias at Slate. The most recent example of the White House caving is the fiscal-cliff compromise. "I think it was a good deal," but "it wasn't the deal that Obama said he would agree to." The White House insisted on a $250,000 cutoff point for re-upping the Bush tax cuts and on taking the debt ceiling off the table, "but when push came to shove, they decided neither of those things were red lines." So watching Obama say that he's unwilling to pay ransom now to free the debt limit, "I find it impossible not to confront the point that as of now nobody seems to believe him."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.