President Obama is having a "shoot the dog" moment, isn't he?
The White House warned today that millions of Americans might not receive federal benefits checks if both sides can't reach a deal to raise the nation's debt limit by Aug. 2.
This is a tactic I've seen lots of times in my years of watching local government. When they're seeking office, politicians make glib promises to cut all that "waste, fraud and abuse" we all know is rampant. But then when they're elected and suddenly find themselves short of money to spend, it's like they never heard of waste, fraud and abuse. What they do is try to scare people into going along with higher taxes by threatening to cut police or fire protection. Fork over, or we'll just let you burn alive in your house some night you aren't being robbed or raped.
