WASHINGTON -- In a bad sign for the stalled debt talks, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ratcheted up the rhetoric in the ongoing blame game Thursday, saying it would be all President Obama's fault if the nation suffers a catastrophic default on its financial obligations.
McConnell had already proposed shifting all the responsibility to the White House by offering a plan that would that would let the administration make cuts and hike the debt ceiling in increments, with Congress having the right to say no only if super majorities object.
McConnell got hammered by Tea Party activists for trying to "abdicate" his responsibility, but he made plain in a radio interview Wednesday that the object was to duck political blame for the budget crisis -- which he suspected would land on his side.
He made the case again on the Senate floor Thursday morning, arguing the crisis was not sparked by the GOP's unprecedented decision to link future spending cuts to paying past debts -- which Obama embraced -- but by the President's unwillingness to accept the Republican demands.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/mitch-mcconnell-debt_n_898254.html