Politico is reporting President Obama "abruptly walked out of a stormy debt-limit meeting" with members of congress Wednesday.
So much for the post-partisan president, and the era of hope and change. Mr. President, America has been spending beyond its means for way too long. The only way to change Washington is to stop spending. If you can't handle the job, keep walking. Politico says:
When Cantor said the two sides were too far apart to get a deal that could pass the House by the Treasury Department’s Aug. 2 deadline — and that he would consider moving a short-term debt-limit increase alongside smaller spending cuts — Obama began to lecture him.
“Eric, don’t call my bluff,” the president said, warning Cantor that he would take his case “to the American people.” He told Cantor that no other president — not Ronald Reagan, the president said — would put up with the treatment he was getting from the House majority leader.
Democratic sources dispute Cantor’s version of Obama’s walk out, but all sides agree that the two had a blow up. The sources described Obama as “impassioned” but said he didn’t exactly storm out of the room.
“Cantor’s account of tonight’s meeting is completely overblown. For someone who knows how to walk out of a meeting, you’d think he'd know it when he saw it,” a Democratic aide said. “Cantor rudely interrupted the president three times to advocate for short-term debt ceiling increases while the president was wrapping the meeting. This is just more juvenile behavior from him and Boehner needs to rein him in, and let the grown-ups get to work."
The president and vice president are scheduled to meet with congressional leadership tomorrow at 4:15 pm. This will be right after Obama and Biden have a meeting with Secretary Tim Geithner.