Barack Obama continually told the American people that he believed in a "balanced approach" to solve the debt crisis. Instead, he eventually conceded decades of progressive principles in a deal that the Congressional Black Caucus’s Emanuel Cleaver denounced as a "sugar-coated Satan sandwich." While the poor, elderly and disabled now face deep cuts to essential social services, the rich and corporations will continue to enjoy their wealth without sacrificing more in taxes. 

Still, despite the imminent threat of default, seventy per cent of the American public was against raising the debt ceiling. The Nation‘s Ari Melber joined MSNBC’s The Last Word last night to describe how Barack Obama might have made the debt ceiling and eventual debt deal more of a compromise and less of a concession.

—Anna Lekas Miller