On Monday’s “Special Report” during the panel segment, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer criticized President Barack Obama’s commentary during his press conference earlier day, saying the president’s attacks were “essentially a libel.”
“The tone of this address was quite remarkable,” Krauthammer said. “He talked about Republicans being suspicious of Social Security and Medicare — about the oldest saw that you could hear from them — and then he added, ‘and suspicious of government’s role in making sure that impoverished children get food.’ Now that’s a little bit over the top. That’s essentially a libel. And then he said, ‘Oh yes, but I love hanging out at congressional picnic with these people who want to starve America’s children.’ That’s an interesting invitation.”
Krauthammer went on to charge that Obama was leaving out key details about borrowing in his argument on why the debt ceiling should be raised.
“Then he did this thing: He went over and over on the debt ceiling. He must have gone through the same idea 15 times, and saying this is all about honoring the obligation, paying the bills we have already incurred,” Krauthammer said. “But what he said seven years ago as a senator was that raising the debt ceiling is an indication of how, quote, ‘We now depend on the ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government’s reckless fiscal policies.’”
“The point of raising the debt ceiling is to allow us to continue to borrow,” Krauthammer continued. “That’s the essence of what it’s about. He talked about the debt ceiling a dozen times. Not once did he use the word ‘borrow.’ And what it means is we are now going to continue to borrow. For every dollar the government spends, only 60 cents of it come from our taxes; the rest, 40 percent, is borrowed money. And the reason that Republicans are objecting is to say we have to start to reduce the 40 cents. And he’s pretending that if you even think about that, you are destroying the credit of the United States of America.”