President Obama admitted in his amusing presser yesterday that he is “amused” when people say he should be more involved in solving the nation’s debt ceiling problem. Gimme a break. I mean like the poor guy is already working himself to a nub. He gave us a quick rundown:
Let me tell you something: Right after we finished dealing with the government shutdown, averting a government shutdown, I called the leaders here together. I said we have to get this done.
POTUS met with representitives from both caucuses from both houses of Congress to tell them that we have to get this done. That’s four meetings, and POTUS indicated some might have run as long as an hour and a half. So right here we’re talking anything from 4 to 6 hours. The president also recalled that he had delegated Joe Biden to head up the debt talks. I don’t know how long that takes, but it can’t be fun.
And that is not all POTUS has been doing:
I’ve been doing Afghanistan and bin Laden and the Greek crisis [laughter from the press corps].
The president dismissed the “fuss” about Libya, something else he has been doing. But I think one aspect of the president’s presser was short-sighted: the focus on people who fly in corporate jets as those who should pay more taxes. Has President Obama been so tied up doing the people’s business that he has forgotten to think of himself?
The Obamas don’t need corporate jets right now. If Michelle and the girls and First Mother-in-Law Marian Robinson feel called upon to go on a “goodwill” tour of Africa, they fly in our jet and we pick up the tab (the African trip was a bargain: a mere $800,000 out of our pockets, according to an English newspaper). But after his tenure in office ends, how will the Obamas fly from continent to continent spreading good will?
Raise your hand if you expect to see the Obama family frantically stuffing their cosmetics into little plastic bags at the last minute in the security line at Dulles.