With a possible government shutdown less than a week away, Andrew Breitbart's Big Government is embracing the conservative narrative that if the debt ceiling is reached and the government can't meet its obligations, President Obama gets the blame.

In a July 27 post under the headline “If Your Government Check Stops Due to the Debt Limit: Blame Obama,” Big Government contributor Michael Angley decries what he sees as “a dirty little secret” -- that since “the Government, through Barack Obama, decides who gets paid and who doesn't” if the debt ceiling isn't raised, and “if you don't get your check, then it means he decided you were not important. Blame him.” Angley continues:

Obama decides who does not get paid, and he decides who does get paid. When he threatens not to pay the elderly, the disabled, veterans, and even the military, he is saying that he has higher priorities than them. These may be things like Planned Parenthood, foreign aid to countries that may not even be friendly toward Barackistan, Michelle Obama's personal staff of 40, State-run media (like NPR), and so on.

Of course, Obama, unlike many conservatives, has made it clear that he doesn't want the government to default and put social insurance programs at risk. But even leaving that aside, Angley's suggestion that Obama may funnel money to political favorites rather than to “the elderly, the disabled, veterans, and even the military” is pure fantasy.

In reality, the government wouldn't be able to pay for all the things Angley lists, and Obama is right to warn that they are under threat.

As The Hill reports, a recent analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) estimates that a lack of a debt ceiling deal would mean a 44 percent cut in federal spending, and a 10 percent cut in GDP. This would force the Treasury to prioritize its payments. According to the report, "[h]andling all payments for important and popular programs" -- including social insurance programs and military pay -- would “quickly become impossible.”

Indeed, as The Hill notes, “if the administration tries to protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense contracts and unemployment insurance, then no military pay, tax refunds, federal civilian pay or welfare payments could be made that month.” Of course, a disruption of federal civilian pay would affect the FBI, the U.S. Department of Corrections, and federal judges -- meaning that, unless people agree to work for free, many lawbreakers will not be prosecuted and people in prison will have a much easier time trying to escape. In this context, halting certain government payments in the event of a default becomes a bit more understandable.

Even Karl Rove acknowledges that we would not be able to meet our obligations to pay interest on the debt, Social Security benefits, Medicaid and Medicare, the military, Defense Department vendors, IRS refunds, and unemployment benefits (and that isn't even counting the increased debt-servicing payments that would result if the debt ceiling is reached).

When even Karl Rove doesn't buy your attack on the president, it's probably time to come up with a new argument.