Obama stays away from deficit panel

I do not blame the President for staying away from this group. He knows that if he shows up, they will place him in the middle. I think he has been real clear about what his expectations are. It is up to the committee to do what they have been charged to do. The President is out doing his part, it is time for Congress to do theirs.

With the supercommittee’s time running short — and a bare-minimum deal worth $1.2 trillion looking like a tall order — a major player is sitting out the fight.

President Barack Obama.

Both politically and substantively, Obama isn’t interested in getting dragged into another death match with Republicans over deficits and spending cuts after the debt ceiling debacle. He turned his attention to jobs in September and — with the blessing of Hill Democrats — adopted a hands-off approach to the supercommittee.

The sidelines strategy is a notable political and tactical shift for Obama, who personally negotiated the debt-limit agreement and staked the first two years of his presidency on reaching bipartisan deals with Congress, only to see his efforts largely fail and his job approval numbers tank.

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