Fuzzy Logic
Obama Said That The Super Committee Was Congress’ Problem But He Had No Problem Getting Deeply Involved In Europe’s Debt Crisis
OBAMA SPENT MORE TIME ENGAGED IN EUROPE’S DEBT CRISIS
THAN THE UNITED STATES’
Obama Only Placed One Phone Call To Each Of The Super Committee Co-Chairs; “By Contrast Mr. Obama Has Held Multiple Calls With European Leaders.” “After that, according to the White House, he placed one phone call to each of the committee’s co-chairmen. By contrast Mr. Obama has held multiple calls with European leaders and spent time with them in person. He held a offered his counsel as they tried to reach a debt deal during the Group of 20 Summit in France.” (Carol E. Lee, “Obama Focuses On Europe’s Debt Problems, Not So Much America’s,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/22/11)
- On The Day The Super Committee Failed, Obama Placed Calls To The Prime Ministers Of Italy And Greece To Discuss Their Debt Problems. “President Barack Obama’s calls on Monday to the prime ministers of Italy and Greece underscore just how much more time in recent weeks he has personally invested in trying to solve the debt problems facing Europe than those facing the U.S.” (Carol E. Lee, “Obama Focuses On Europe’s Debt Problems, Not So Much America’s,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/22/11)
TIMELINE: WHOSE DEBT CRISIS IS PRESIDENT OBAMA FOCUSED ON?
UNITED STATES OR EUROPE?
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8/2/11: |
Obama Signs Budget Control Act Of 2011, Creating The Super Committee. (Budget Control Act Of 2011, Public Law 112-25, Signed 8/2/11) |
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8/5/11: |
Standard & Poor’s Downgrades The United States’ Credit Rating For The First Time In History. (Zachary Goldfarb, “S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating For First Time,” The Washington Post, 8/5/11) President Obama Calls French President Nicholas Sarkozy To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Phone Calls With President Sarkozy And Chancellor Merkel,” The White House, 8/5/11) President Obama Calls German Chancellor Angela Merkel To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Phone Calls With President Sarkozy And Chancellor Merkel,” The White House, 8/5/11) |
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8/8/11: |
President Obama Delivers Remarks On The S&P Downgrade. (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President, Washington, D.C., 8/8/11) President Obama Calls Spanish President Jose Luis Zapatero To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of President Obama’s Pgone Calls With President Zapatero And Prime Minister Berlusconi,”The White House, 8/8/11) President Obama Calls Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi To Discuss European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of President Obama’s Pgone Calls With President Zapatero And Prime Minister Berlusconi,”The White House, 8/8/11) |
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8/10/11: |
President Obama Meets With Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke And Discusses The European Debt Crisis.(Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Meeting With Chairman Bernanke,” The White House, 8/10/11) |
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8/15/11: |
President Obama Begins A Three-Day Bus Tour Of Minnesota, Iowa And Illinois. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “President Obama To Travel To Minnesota, Begin Three-Day Economic Bus Tour,” The White House, 8/11/11) |
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8/19/11: |
President Obama Begins A Nine-Day Vacation On Martha’s Vineyard. (Donovan Slack, “Obamas Arrive On Martha’s Vineyard,” Boston Globe, 8/19/11) |
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8/23/11: |
President Obama Calls French President Nicholas Sarkozy To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Call With President Sarkozy Of France,” The White House, 8/23/11) |
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8/26/11: |
President Obama Calls IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde And Discusses European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Call With IMF Managing Director Lagarde,” The White /House, 8/26/11) |
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8/27/11: |
President Obama Calls German Chancellor Angela Merkel To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Call With Chancellor Merkel,” The White House, 8/27/11) |
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9/8/11: |
President Obama Addresses A Joint Session Of Congress And Requests $447 Billion In Stimulus Spending. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Act,”The White House, 9/8/11) |
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9/19/11: |
President Obama Releases Outline For Reducing The Deficit, Which Includes $1.5 Trillion In Tax Hikes. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future: The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction,” The White House, 9/19/11) President Obama Calls German Chancellor Angela Merkel To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout Of The President’s Call With German Chancellor Merkel,” The White House, 9/19/11) |
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10/10/11: |
President Obama Calls French President Nicholas Sarkozy To Discuss The European Debt Crisis, “Continuing His Close Consultations With These Key Allies About The Situation In The Eurozone.” (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy,” The White House, 10/10/11) President Obama Calls British Prime Minister David Cameron To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy,”The White House, 10/10/11) |
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10/14/11: |
President Obama Calls German Chancellor Angela Merkel To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Call with Chancellor Merkel,” The White House, 10/14/11) |
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10/17/11: |
President Obama Begins A Three-Day Bus Tour Through North Carolina And Virginia To Promote His $447 Billion Stimulus Package. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “President Obama Travels To North Carolina On First Day Of Bus Tour,”The White House, 10/12/11) |
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10/20/11: |
President Obama Holds A Video Conference With German Chancellor Merkel, French President Sarkozy And British Prime Minister Cameron To Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Videoconference with Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Cameron,” The White House, 10/20/11) |
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10/27/11: |
President Obama Issues A Statement On European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Statement By The President On Europe,” The White House, 10/27/11) |
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10/28/11: |
President Obama Pens An Op-Ed In The Financial TimesTitled “A Firewall To Stop Europe’s Crisis Spreading.”(Office Of The Press Secretary, “Op-Ed By President Obama: A Firewall To Stop Europe’s Crisis Spreading,” The White House, 10/28/11) |
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11/2/11: |
President Obama Travels To Europe For A Two-Day Summit That “Focus[ed] On The Global Economy And Europe’s Debt Crisis.” (“President Obama Traveling To Europe For Economic Summit,” The Associated Press, 11/2/11) |
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11/9/11: |
President Obama Releases A Joint Statement With The President Of Portugal And “Underscored Its Full Support For Portugal’s Implementation Of Its Reform Program Backed By The IMF And The EU.” (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Joint Statement Of The President Of The United States And The President Of Portugal,” The White House, 11/9/11) |
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11/10/11: |
President Obama Calls Italian President Napolitano “To Express His Confidence In President Napolitano’s Leadership And To Offer Support For The President’s Decisive Action At This Challenging Time.” (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with President Napolitano, Chancellor Merkel, and President Sarkozy,” The White House, 11/10/11) President Obama Calls German Chancellor Merkel And French President Sarkozy to Discuss The European Debt Crisis. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with President Napolitano, Chancellor Merkel, and President Sarkozy,” The White House, 11/10/11) |
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11/11/11: |
President Obama Calls Super Committee Co-Chair Sen. Patty Murray “To Hear From The Bipartisan Leadership Of The Committee On The Status Of Their Discussions.”(Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with Senator Patty Murray and Representative Jeb Hensarling,” The White House, 11/11/11) President Obama Calls Super Committee Co-Chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling. (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Readout of the President’s Calls with Senator Patty Murray and Representative Jeb Hensarling,” The White House, 11/11/11) President Obama Leaves For A Nine-Day Tour Of The Pacific. (Stephen Collinson, “Obama Launches Pacific Tour,”Agence France Presse, 11/11/11) |
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11/21/11: |
President Obama Calls Prime Minister Mario Monti To Express “His Full Confidence In Italy’s Strength And Vibrancy And Underscored America’s Support For The Steps That Italy Is Taking To Advance Its Economic Reform Program.” (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Call with Prime Minister Monti of Italy,” The White House, 11/21/11) President Obama Calls Greek Prime Minister Lukas Papademos “To Express U.S. Support For Greece’s Efforts To Implement Its Commitments Under Its EU-IMF Program.” (Office Of The Press Secretary, “Statement by the Press Secretary on the President’s Call with Greek Prime Minister Papademos,” The White House, 11/21/11) SUPER COMMITTEE FAILS: Obama Delivers Remarks On The Announcement Of The Super Committee’s Failure To Reach An Agreement. (Office Of The Press Secrertary, “Statement By The President On The Supercommittee,” The White House, 11/21/11) |
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT OBAMA’S LACK OF LEADERSHIP
National Journal: “Obama has done nothing to encourage a deal. Indeed, from the beginning, after he agreed to accept the super committee formula in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, he has kept his hands clean.” (Marc Ambinder, “Obama Relishes Tax-Hike Contrast,” National Journal, 11/21/11)
Politico: “President Barack Obama prides himself on being a clutch player, but he sat happily on the end of the bench as the clock ran out on the supercommittee. Then he took his shot after the buzzer.” (Carrie Budoff Brown and Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Rule Of Engagement,” Politico, 11/22/11)
- Politico: “Critics from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Democratic budget expert Alice Rivlin chided Obama for sitting out of the talks, and a stock market expected to shrug off the committee’s failure plummeted on the latest leading indicator of Beltway dysfunction.” (Carrie Budoff Brown and Glenn Thrush, “Obama’s Rule Of Engagement,” Politico, 11/22/11)
Mayor Michael Bloomberg: “I Would Argue That The President, As The Chief Executive Of The Country, Has The Responsibility To Make Things Come Together.” (CNN’s “John King, USA,” 11/21/11)
- Bloomberg: “But in the end, no CEO would send a proposal and just say, ‘well, let’s see what happens.’ You send a proposal and then you go fight for it.” (CNN’s “John King, USA,” 11/21/11)
Harold Ford Jr.: “I Think The President And The White House Will Share A Large Share Of This Blame.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 11/22/11)
- Ford Jr.: “At The End Of The Day Because He Is The Single Individual That People Look To Most. The President Is – He Is The Leader.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 11/22/11)
The New York Times’ Jackie Clames: “Yet the president’s strategy of not deeply engaging with Congress carries a big risk: that he will be seen as failing to lead on a serious threat to the country’s future, the mounting federal debt.” (Jackie Calmes, “Obama Weighed Risks Of Engagement, And Decided To Give Voters The Final Say,” The New York Times, 11/21/11)
- NYT: “And if Washington’s dysfunction extends to next November, voters show every sign of taking out their wrath on everyone involved — not least the occupant of the White House.” (Jackie Calmes, “Obama Weighed Risks Of Engagement, And Decided To Give Voters The Final Say,” The New York Times, 11/21/11)
Democrats Are Happy To Come Away With Their Campaign Message Intact
The Associated Press: “Democrats, however, never seriously considered an agreement to continue the Bush tax cuts for high earners. Agreeing to extend them would make it harder for Democrats to accuse Republicans of supporting policies that favor the wealthy, a staple of Democratic political campaigns.” (Stephen Ohlemacher, “Bush Tax Cut Debate Dooms Deal To Cut Deficit,” The Associated Press, 11/22/11)
- Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA): “If Anybody In Our Party Votes For That, They Will Have A Real Problem For Themselves In The Next Election.” (Stephen Ohlemacher, “Bush Tax Cut Debate Dooms Deal To Cut Deficit,” The Associated Press, 11/22/11)
The Hill: “Democratic strategists say they are pleased they will have an unobstructed shot at Republicans on Medicare. Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the Senate Democrats’ message guru, and other strategists believe a campaign against the Medicare reforms outlined in Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget plan offers a path to victory.” (Alexander Bolton, “Supercommittee Failure Gives Parties Election Ammunition,” The Hill, 11/22/11)
- The Hill: “If Democrats Signed On To A Deficit-Reduction Plan Cutting $400 Billion Or $350 Billion From Medicare, It Would Have Muddled Their Message.” (Alexander Bolton, “Supercommittee Failure Gives Parties Election Ammunition,” The Hill, 11/22/11)
