July 26: Obama Should Go It Alone If He Has To On Debt Ceiling

By Sylvia Gurinsky

"The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn't vote for a dysfunctional government."
-President Barack Obama, last night


You'd better believe it, Mr. President.

While Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives practice their debt ceiling strategy, unofficially titled "Make Sure Obama Doesn't Get Re-Elected At Any Cost," Obama will have a decision to make at deadline time.

If he has to, he should go it alone.

Actually, he's not alone in the type of solution he wants. He supports the plan approved by the United States Senate.

But during the last few days, House Speaker John Boehner proved he's more interested in keeping his job and raising his "street cred" with the Tea Party than he is in saving the country a lot of financial pain.

Such a strategy is even causing a split in the House, where Boehner seems not to have enough votes for his own plan. Meanwhile, the Senate waits. So does Obama.

So do the American people, whom Obama implored to contact Congress before next week. They will. The question is whether Boehner and Congress will listen.

Many House members who were elected last November came with the idea of blocking government. That's what they're doing.

Meanwhile, many who voted for them - or didn't vote at all last November - are waking up to the reality that blocking government isn't necessarily a good thing. Quite the contrary.

Meanwhile, Obama's job is to govern. He's had a lot of patience with those kindergarteners in the House, but he's given every indication his patience has run out. He should act on it.