Obama needs to get out of the middle of the road.

As the saying goes; a man in the middle of the road is more likely to be the one hit! This is exactly what is happening to Barack Obama and it is really the first time I am seriously questioning his leadership.

The recent fall of the stock market because of the S&P downgrade of the U.S. credit worthiness is directly related the handling of the debt crisis by the President. Obama can cry foul all he wants, but he had the opportunity to make sure that did not happen no matter what Congress eventually did.

Obama should have stepped up as Bill Clinton suggested and used his authority to put congress in its place. Obama should have used the 14Th amendment to the Constitution. What does the 14Th amendment say? "The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, ..... shall not be questioned." The 14Th amendment goes on to say that Congress should police this article.

Obama chose the wimp approach - the middle road - and simply waited for Congress to do its job. A job which Congress new it had to do regardless of what the President said. A month before the default date, Obama should have come out strong and told the world that America will never default on its debts as it is not permitted in our Constitution. He should have gone on to say that if Congress does not do its job which they are sworn to do, then he will do his job under the Constitution to which he has sworn allegiance. President Obama should have used his office to ensure that U.S. debt will be honored and if Congress failed in its duties, he will extend the debt ceiling by executive order.

Obama failed the American people on this one and he needs to realize that the Republican Congress will do every thing it can to see him out of the White House. It's time Obama stood tall and fought back. It's time Obama gets out of the middle of the road. He is going to get rolled over and may never recover.

I'm a fiscally conservative liberal Democrat and I'm mad as hell!

Tomtoak