国际英语新闻:Obama's Main Political Challenge Remains US Economy

In U.S. politics, much of the next month in Washington will be spent in a polarized debate over whether to raise the national debt ceiling in order to avoid default.  The debate is likely to be a dress rehearsal for next year’s presidential election campaign in which the incumbent, President Barack Obama, will have to defend his economic record.

The political skirmishing in Washington over the mounting debt is intensifying with enormous stakes for President Obama, congressional Republicans and the large field of Republican presidential contenders who would like to run against the president next year.

The Obama administration warns that unless the borrowing limit of $14.3 trillion is raised by August 2, world economic markets could be thrown into turmoil and the tentative U.S. economic recovery could be undermined.

Debt agreement

Political experts say a compromise on the debt limit between the president and Republican congressional leaders could help Obama in his re-election bid next year when he faces U.S. voters unhappy with his record on the economy.

“The president came in promising recovery, promising more jobs, promising economic growth.  He hasn’t delivered," noted Analyst Stuart Rothenberg on VOA’s Encounter program. "The Democrats say it is not his fault.  He was dealt a bad hand.  The Republicans haven’t cooperated. But in our political system, the president is almost always held accountable and the polls are showing that the voters are holding Barack Obama accountable and his numbers are falling.  This is a significant problem for him.”

Obama insists that ending some tax breaks for wealthy Americans should be part of any debt agreement that would also include the deep spending cuts favored by Republicans.

At a recent news conference the president showed some impatience with Republican congressional leaders in the talks aimed at securing an agreement on raising the debt limit.

“They need to do their job.  Now is the time to go ahead and make the tough choices,” the president said.

Republicans fired back at Obama for leaving Washington to raise campaign funds and speak at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Among them was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the national frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination next year.

“He shouldn’t leave that town until he has an understanding of what it is going to take to get this economy going again,” Romney said.