The AA+ Presidency

A few months ago, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner predicted with unshakable confidence that there was “no risk” of a downgrade of U.S. debt. In fact, he argued, “things are better than they’ve been if you want to think about the prospects for improving our long-term fiscal position.”

In his self-assured cluelessness, Geithner reflected the president he serves. Upon taking office, Pres. Barack Obama gravely misread the historic moment. He has brought us to a dangerous pass where a few slips — another sharp recession, a spike in interest rates — could bring on another terrifying economic crisis. To borrow his own put-down of Congress during the debt-ceiling fight, he’s an AA+ president of an AAA country.

Financial crises like that of 2008 always create vast overhangs of debt, but Obama believed he should heedlessly add more. And he’s never once “pivoted” to responsibility.

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