It has become an annual rite of fall: President Obama returns from his summer vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, admits the economy is not as strong as he thought it would be, and then offers a “very specific” speech on how his administration will create new jobs. The American people have already heard this speech many times before.

What the American people have not seen yet, is Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a debate. For months, NBC News, Politico, and the Reagan Library have been planning to host a Republican presidential debate on September 7th. Everyone in Washington, D.C., knew this, including the White House. So what does Obama do? He asks Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, if he can give his annual jobs speech on the same night of the GOP debate? And then his spokesman, Jay Carney, has the audacity to claim the conflict is just “coincidental.”