Handle Your Business

Two days after scolding Congress for not staying in Washington and working on a deal to raise the debt ceiling, President Obama took off for Camp David this afternoon for a long holiday weekend.

His Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, is dealing with media reports that he’s thinking about leaving once a debt deal is struck. Thursday, Geithner tried to quash these stories by saying he plans to stay “for the foreseeable future.”

Some folks think that vague response means Geithner has one foot out the door. There could be a more ominous interpretation of this phrase, however: maybe Geithner thinks there isn’t going to be a debt deal in “the foreseeable future.” Maybe the best that Obama will be able to get from Congress is a short-term increase in the nation’s debt limit that will enable the nation to avoid defaulting on its obligations for now but will kick the big decisions on deficit reductions down the road. That may keep Geithner in Washington for a long time.

Geithner’s Treasury Department, meanwhile, reaffirmed today that Aug. 2 is indeed the deadline for increasing the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit. If that deadline isn’t met, the federal government will start defaulting on its bills, according to the department. To get a debt limit increase signed into law by that day, a deficit reduction deal must be reached between the White House and Congress by July 22, Obama administration officials say. It will take time to write the legislation, get it scored by the Congressional Budget Office and debate and vote on it in both the House and Senate.

So the clock is ticking. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid canceled the Senate’s scheduled recess next week so that senators would be here. That’s nice, since the House will be back in town after its break this week. But it’s not clear the Senate will do much of anything next wee. Members might vote for a resolution authorizing U.S. involvement in NATO’s Libya operations if Reid can break a Republican filibuster.

The House, meanwhile, is scheduled to take yet-another break the week of July 18. If that break isn’t canceled, then we’ll know a debt deal really is in trouble. It would be hard to get a deal done by July 22 if the House isn’t in town.

So Obama’s admonition for Congress “to stay here” since “I’m here” may get results. But his condescending tone at Wednesday’s White House press conference didn’t win him any friends with Republicans. On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, invited the president to come to the Capitol that day so he could hear from Senate Republicans that they won’t vote for any debt deal that includes tax increases. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that was “not a conversation worth having” since Republicans would just be repeating “their maximalist position.” Instead, Obama flew to Philadelphia that afternoon for two Democratic National Committee fundraisers.

Maybe next week, after a long holiday weekend celebrating the birth of the United States, Obama and Congress can find the will–and the time–to resume serious negotiations on raising the debt limit. Otherwise, our “foreseeable future” may be a government default that will shock financial markets, make paying off our debt even more expensive and increase interest rates for businesses and consumers.

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