Obama Insinuates Republicans to Blame for Economic Woes

President Obama seemed to insinuate on Monday afternoon who he thinks is at fault for the recent economic trouble in Washington.

Speaking at a press conference regarding S&P's credit downgrade, Obama blasted those responsible for the "gridlock" in Washington, which recently has been code for the holdout staged by the Republicans during the recent debt ceiling debate.

Here's what he had to say:

"We didn't need a ratings agency to tell us that the gridlock in Washington over the last several months has not been constructive, to say the least. We knew from the outset that a prolonged debate over the debt ceiling, a debate where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip, could do enormous damage to the economy and the world's. That threat, coming after a string of economic disruptions in Europe, Japan, and the Middle East, has now roiled the markets, and dampened consumer confidence, and slowed the pace of recover. So all of this is a legitimate cause for concern."

The president's speech sounded all too familiar to National Review:

Echoing his fellow Democrats on yesterday’s talk shows, Obama blamed “a prolonged debate, where the threat of default was used as a bargaining chip” for the downgrade. “That threat . . . has now roiled the markets,” he said.

[...]

The problem wasn’t a lack of ideas, but a lack of will. There was too much “insistence on drawing lines in the sand” — a “refusal to put what’s best for the country ahead of self-interest, or party, or ideology.”

Mediaite's Colby Hall agrees:

The president did not mention the Tea Party by name (which he never really does), but he did call out those who refused to put what’s best for the country ahead of party or ideology. Many inside the beltway, and elsewhere, see this as the Tea Party’s role in the recent debt crisis, which ostensibly led to the credit downgrade.

But besides pointing fingers, the president also repeated one of his favorite mantras from the past few months: that the rich must pay more taxes (or their "fair share"). In fact, he boldly defied those who think that spending is the main problem. Watch it below:

Obama's speech, however, seemed to do little to restore confidence. The markets tanked almost immediately after the speech. The Dow dipped below 11,000 and even lost 600 points on the day at one point.