Updates on the Debt Ceiling War

More Updates below.

We don't need a body language expert to decode this picture for us. The photo comes from the Saturday meeting--the one Obama issued an imperial command performance for to the leaders of the House and Senate. The meeting evidently went nowhere and lasted for all of 45 minutes.

I saw John Boehner on Chris Wallace's Sunday show yesterday where he said he hoped to have a deal by the time the Asian markets opened (4 p.m. Eastern time). Evidently that was the new, new "drop dead" deadline coming from Obama Team (TM)--August 2 evidently isn't soon enough for Barry to be guaranteed that he'll be able to go on his millionaires & billionaires vaycay to Martha's Vineyard.

Treasury Sec'y Timothy the Tax Cheat Geithner was all over the Sunday morning talking heads shows, using scare language about the apocalypse that will occur in the Asian markets if the 4 p.m. deadline comes and goes without a debt ceiling agreement. Timmy the Tax Cheat went on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace and accused Republicans of "praying for default." So did Tax Cheat Timmy at least have the guts to name the names of these Republicans praying for this fiscal disaster? Well of course that isn't a serious question.

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley was on NBC's Meet the Depressed and called the Republican short-term plan a "gimmick." He also said that Obama will veto any plan that doesn't get the country past the 2012 election (well, actually he put it differently, saying any plan that "doesn't get the country through 2013). John Boehner was very clear on Fox News Sunday, saying in so many words that he believes Obama's refusal to consider a short-term deal is all about 2012: "The president's worried about the next election, but my God, shouldn't we be worried about the country?" And frankly, I don't think President Present has the balls to veto anything. When Obama walked out of the meetings last week, he hilariously said to Eric Cantor "Don't call my bluff"--well, I say go ahead and call it, because that's what it would be--a bluff. The petulant president might hold his breath until he turns blue, but he's not going to use the veto.

Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post has what she says comes from "sources familiar with the call" that Speaker Boehner made to House Republicans on Sunday. The whole thing is here. The money quote from Boehner: "We've seen this coming all year long. But here's the challenge: To stop him, we need a vehicle that can pass both houses." Rubin suggests that House Republicans will pass a bill, send it to the Senate, and let the Dems decide if they want to send the country into default. As Boehner is reported to have said to Obama: "As I read the Constitution, Congress makes the laws; you get to decide what you want to sign." Or not. Go ahead, Barry, make our day: Veto a debt limit bill. What a tool.

8:00 a.m. Eastern time, Monday. An update from Jennifer Rubin: "White House stokes debt-ceiling crisis." Rubin says that she's had an email from a Republican aide, saying that Harry Reid took a bipartisan plan to the White House and the President turned it down. If this is true, as both Rubin and HotAir's Ed Morrissey say, then Obama is playing with fire, plus, he now owns the debt-ceiling crisis and whatever happens because of it. Good luck with that, Champ.

Monday's opinion piece from the WSJ: "Toying With Default--The President isn't serious about real spending cuts"

Today's Rasmussen Presidential (Dis)Approval Index is back to the highest disapproval number, evah. Get a clue, Barry. The American people don't like what you're doing.