Hence my subject line.

That bastard Obama didn't put us in this situation, and he's the only one who's offered any concessions to mitigate the problem. He's pushing for a $4 trillion deficit reduction while Republicans insist on $2 trillion to preserve decades of tax breaks. That's the bottom line: That bastard Obama has repeatedly offered deficit reduction deals, gotten Reid and Pelosi to accept Social Security and Medicare cuts, and Republicans have walked away every time because he wanted a tax increase as well. After he's already agreed to nearly $2 trillion in entitlement cuts, they're holding out for a half trillion more rather than accept tax increases to reduce the deficit by four times that. He's offered a many concessions and they've offered nothing: That's not a negotiation or a compromise, it's an ultimatum, and it's no surprise the public is bolting as it watches House Republicans hold the nations financial existence hostage to it.

And to be perfectly honest, suggesting we either scrap Medicare or impoverish doctors while eliminating their liability for injuring or killing patients doesn't jibe with concern for ones family. You're worried about protecting wealth if the dollar collapses; people who've paid into Medicare and Social Security for 30 years are worried about SURVIVING when they're too old and sick to work and can't afford to pay $1200 PER MONTH for health insurance. That's the number the company who said five years ago they'd insure my mother quoted; the others said they wouldn't cover her at all (and even that one said they wouldn't cover her after 65). Bearing in mind that the wonderful new healthcare bill only says they can't decline people (without restricting how much they charge), how do you suggest a 70 year old with no Social Security or Medicare come up with a few hundred thousand a year for health insurance (never mind things like deductibles and copays)?

Raise taxes AND cut spending; any other deficit reduction talk is just talk. Guess who's trying to get a $4 trillion deficit reduction deal that raises taxes and cuts spending. And guess who's demanding we cut the deficit half that much so they can tell their base they didn't raise taxes. Obama's offering deals and the Republicans are walking away; I fail to see how that's Obamas fault. From the Pew Center, again via Wikipedia:

Gee, what changed in 2001? And if you say 911 changed our 2011 finanical situation from a $2.3 trillion SURPLUS to a $10.4 trillion DEBT I'll know you just refuse to be objective. The decade old Bush tax cuts alone, the ones Republicans ignored the deficit and demanded we extend six months ago, have had TWICE the effect on the deficit as the much maligned Obama stimulus.

Obama could've shown a lot more leadership on this (but what else is new), but there's a limit to how much I can blame him for not doing more to force Republicans to compromise instead of insisting they get all their demands in exchange for NOTHING or they'll implode the economy.