Obama Was Against Debt Ceiling Hike Before He Was For It

President Barack Obama will hold an 11 a.m. news conference at the White House to discuss debt-ceiling and deficit negotiations after meetings with congressional leaders ended Thursday without an agreement.

Obama who, as a senator, opposed any increase in the debt limit, wants the ceiling raised, and he has proposed a series of tax increases to attack the deficit.

Though the president petulantly walked out of a negotiating session earlier this week, a Quinnipiac Poll on Thursday said the public trusts him more than the Republicans.

Disapproving of the way Obama is handling the economy by a margin of 56 percent to 38 percent, respondents nevertheless trust the president more than congressional Republicans by a 45-38 margin.

The administration's push to boost the current debt ceiling, now set at $14.3 trillion, flies in the face of then-Sen. Obama's position in 2006, when he stated:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising Americas debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. government cant pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our governments reckless fiscal policies. ...

"... Americas debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.

"I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase Americas debt limit."

That was back when the debt was running around $5 trillion.