Paul Krugman: Obama Could 'Go Down In History As The Wimp Who Threw It All Away'

Paul Krugman is not happy with President Barack Obama.

The New York Times columnist slammed Obama in a blog post Wednesday for his handling of the fiscal cliff negotiations, arguing that the president didn't need to be so concerned with securing a deal by the end of the year because going over the cliff wouldn't have had a big impact on the economy for weeks or even months.

Obama's desperation has Krugman worried that the president may give away too much as Congressional Republicans threaten to hold the debt ceiling hostage in exchange for spending cuts.

"Obama has to be aware just how much is now riding on his willingness to finally stand up for his side," Krugman wrote. "If he doesn’t, nobody will ever trust him again, and he will go down in history as the wimp who threw it all away."

Many, including Krugman, argued earlier that Obama had plenty of leverage during talks to avert the fiscal cliff -- a set of tax hikes and spending cuts that were scheduled to take place on Jan. 1 -- given that he won the election in part on his promise to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Congress passed a fiscal cliff deal negotiated by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, which extends the Bush tax cuts for couples' incomes below $450,000 and individuals' incomes below $400,000. This broke with Obama's promise not to extend the Bush tax cuts on annual incomes above $250,000.