Obama Joins Parties in Painting Himself into a Corner Over Debt

It's hard to remember a simmering crisis when America's political leaders have painted themselves into so many corners, but that's where we are as we face a potential default on our national debt. As leaders return to bargaining Monday afternoon, they had better find their way out soon, or we will pay a fearful price. The Republicans were the first to paint themselves into a corner. No fewer than 230 members of the House, mostly Republicans, signed pledges during their campaigns that they would refuse to raise taxes when they went to Washington. Their resistance to new taxes is entirely understandable: As The Wall Street Journal editorialized Monday morning, joined by columnist Ross Douthat in The New York Times, conservatives feel strongly that Obama raised spending enormously in the first part of his term and they don't want to become, as they say, tax collectors for the welfare state. And besides, more taxes are on their way through President Obama's health care plan.