By Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor

Senator Pat Toomey stayed in his wheelhouse this weekend with an op-ed to the Philadelphia Inquirer about the dangers of debt.

Toomey continued to hammer home his argument that the nation debt is an existential threat to the United States. And he pulled no punches when talking about President Obama:

“Judging by the budget he submitted to Congress, President Obama is abrogating his responsibility to provide the principled leadership we badly need to solve the problem. Instead, Congress will have to provide the leadership that the president will not. There is no more time to kick this can down the road.

“Economists who have studied the effects of excessive debt agree that it hinders economic growth and can lead to huge, sometimes repeated, financial crises. Many believe we are already experiencing the former and are on a collision course with the latter.”

He may have shown his hand a bit, too. Toomey has implied previously that he totally opposed raising the debt limit. In the op-ed, he seemed to soften his stance:

“Congress should insist on real, immediate spending cuts and substantive reforms of our broken spending process as part of any debt-limit-increase package.”

Toomey has spent the past several weeks trying to rally the GOP to his cause, but it appears not all Republicans have the stomach for this fight. (See this story about lukewarm reactions from US Reps. Barletta, Dent and Fitzpatrick by Colby Itkowitz of the Morning Call).