President Joe Biden, who literally swore an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, is currently mulling taking the wholly unconstitutional step of completely bypassing Congress on the debt ceiling.
But to hear Politico’s Jonathan Lemire explain it, it’s Congress who’s breaking the rules. Or, rather, congressional Republicans:
The U.S. stands on the precipice of financial calamity, testing whether President Biden’s theory of governance can continue to work
He has prioritized deal-making throughout the debt ceiling talks. But with GOP obstinate, Biden is changing tactics https://t.co/TyVNJZ7jX4
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) May 22, 2023
On the precipice of financial calamity! And we wouldn’t be in this God-awful position if it weren’t for those obstinate Republicans:
But with talk taking a turn for the worse this weekend, he and his team are now being forced to tinker with their approach, dialing up criticism in hopes that the specter of default and public blame for it will move GOP negotiators.
“Being forced to tinker with their approach.” Why would Republicans do this to our Great President?
Biden’s reluctance to play hardball up to this moment had been driven by twin political bets: That he would come off as a steady hand in stark contrast to the extremes of the Republican Party; and that voters will tune out the Beltway noise, rewarding the president for the job he’s done should the crisis pass.
Biden and his team had been buoyed by their belief that a consensus building approach — though perpetually doubted — worked for them before, including with the passage of an infrastructure package and the far-reaching legislation that became the Inflation Reduction Act. But the debt ceiling standoff has so far proved stubbornly different, with Republicans showing a surprisingly united front and the president risking taking the brunt of the blame if the nation defaults for the first time in its history.
OK, that’s enough. The article’s got plenty of other paragraphs, but those should give you a pretty solid idea of where Lemire and Politico stand on the debt ceiling standoff. They stand with Biden and Dems, natch.
“Gaslighting” is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days — often enough incorrectly — but what is Lemire’s piece if not blatant gaslighting? We’ve watched with our own eyes and listened with our own ears as Joe Biden has obstinately refused to deal with House Republicans. The House GOP has held up their end of the bargain. They’ve done what they are supposed to do. And it’s Biden who’s dug in his heels like a literal jackass and threatening an end run around the Constitution because Republicans won’t willingly turn over the power of the purse.
this isn’t shaded or biased — it’s opposite of true https://t.co/NTkeNH3b8m
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 22, 2023
We expect the MSM to have a liberal bias — we’re not blind to how our media work — but good Lord. Lemire’s article isn’t just biased; it’s outright pro-Biden and anti-GOP. It’s crafting a narrative that flies in the face of the facts.
Biden "prioritized deal-making" by spending three-plus months refusing to negotiate at all, even after the House passed a debt-ceiling increase.
That's some Orwellian Ministry of Truth action going on here. https://t.co/rfVTknBURe
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) May 22, 2023
I feel like I’m taking crazy pills https://t.co/VQ5bNJ8Ue7 pic.twitter.com/f1oL8CYP2L
— Mike Berg (@MikeKBerg) May 22, 2023
Just dishonest.
Biden and the WH were refusing to negotiate with the House Majority until a few weeks ago. They irresponsibly played a game of chicken and left themselves very little time or leverage to negotiate. To frame that as prioritizing deal-making defies reality. https://t.co/CswXWRVUa3
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 22, 2023
you liberal hack lmfaooooooooo
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) May 22, 2023
This is an absolutely ridiculous way to cast what has happened, which is that the GOP has passed a bill through the House and Biden has insisted that he won’t cut a deal with the branch of government that is in charge of the process. https://t.co/DsrGU8jmD4
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) May 22, 2023
Is this serious Jon? He couldn’t have prioritized deal-making less. He hid behind divisive hostage-taking tweets and refused to negotiate for over 100 days.
This is some outrageous analysis.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 22, 2023
He has prioritized deal making you say? pic.twitter.com/Wa6d8Q7E1D
— Polybius Champion🐂💨 (@PolybiusChamp) May 22, 2023
The White House “prioritizing deal-making” https://t.co/joaeepZdmu
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 22, 2023
Biden White House: We will not negotiate and we will not get any of the blame.
Lemire: “Biden continues to prioritize deal-making, GOP remains obstinate.”
WILD. https://t.co/bbfztlDtSQ
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 22, 2023
This article is amazing. It reads like something the WH wrote.
— Joey Jo-Jo Jr Shabadoo (@JoShabadoo) May 22, 2023
The White House might as well have written it. Maybe Lemire’s applying for a job in the Biden administration. At the very least, we hope he at least got a box of chocolates out of all this.
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Related:
CNN does some heavy lifting for Biden, who Republicans are holding hostage on the debt ceiling
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