"We can't wait for the crisis, Mr. President."

Philip Klein:

During a Wednesday interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Obama warned against adopting a “crisis mentality” when it comes to concerns about the mounting national debt. With the debt currently approaching $17 trillion, Obama said, “we don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt.”

Obama is correct in the sense that bondholders are still willing to purchase U.S. debt at low interest rates. The country isn’t currently in crisis. But this isn’t going to be the case forever, because a combination of an aging population and growing health care costs have put the nation on an unsustainable path in the long term.

Klein is working under the mistaken impression that the Progressive left has any desire to avoid the coming crisis. No, they want the crisis. They need the crisis. Because “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

Rahm Emanuel said so, and I believe him.