When President Obama addressed the nation on Monday night about the stumbling effort to raise the federal borrowing limit, he notably chose not to issue any explicit threat to veto Speaker Boehner’s proposal, which is expected to …
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2012 Candidates Bash Obama on Debt, but They’re No Profiles in Courage
On CNN this past weekend, Tim Pawlenty–apparently in his new, unplugged let-Tim-be-Tim mode–more or less taunted the President, saying that Obama’s been “hiding in the basement” and being “chicken” in the debt limit debate, and needs to act more “courageously.” (Any similarity here to Michele Bachmann’s recent television ad denouncing …
Six Possible Paths in the Debt-Ceiling Debate
According to President Obama, Congress has become mired in negotiations to raise the debt ceiling and trim federal deficits. The way ahead is unclear — every path has hurdles, if not roadblocks, obstructing the way. As Congress …
Unable to Deal With Each Other, Obama and Boehner Invade Prime Time
“I won’t bore you,” President Obama said, as he broke into America’s prime time TV lineup on Monday night. This was ironic, because he went on to talk about Triple A credit ratings, Dwight Eisenhower and the debt limit. …
Mixed Response from GOP as Boehner Pushes Unilateral Debt Plan
Clarification appended, 11:15 AM Tuesday:
House Speaker John Boehner hawked his new proposal to raise the federal debt limit on Monday afternoon, imploring House Republicans in a closed-door meeting to back a plan that meets …
Obama at La Raza: Can the President Re-energize Latino Voters?
In 2008, Barack Obama captured more than two-thirds of the Latino vote, largely on the promise that he would make immigration reform a first-term priority. Even the President acknowledges that promise has gone largely unfulfilled, and as a result his popularity is plunging among Latinos. Can President Obama reenergize a diverse …
Notes of Optimism in Weekend Wrangling, but No Debt Deal Yet
A day after talks between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner abruptly collapsed, congressional leaders worked overtime on Saturday to craft a deal that can raise the $14.3 trillion federal debt limit and staves off a …
Obama and Boehner Close to a Debt Deal, Sources Say
President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are close to a deal to cut the deficit and raise the federal borrowing limit, congressional sources say.
Though both sides deny a deal is imminent, congressional Democrats who …
Debt Talks’ Dire Hour: Why the Failsafe Plan Could Still Fail
Less than two weeks before Congress hits its deadline to raise the debt ceiling, the path toward an agreement on deficit reduction remains murky. White House negotiations have slowed. House Republicans have coalesced behind a …
As Prospects for a Grand Debt Deal Fade, Gang of Six Shapes Plan B
At a White House meeting on July 7 when President Obama told congressional leaders he wanted a grand bargain on deficit reduction, Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat and a member of the bipartisan so-called Gang of Six, began …
Obama’s New Mega-Money
On Friday, President Obama’s campaign released a list of bundlers, the elite fundraisers who collect checks from their very rich friends and families, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to a presidential candidate throughout an election season. There are plenty of holdovers from Obama’s 2008 campaign — famous names like Vogue …
Warren Goes to Bat for Obama
I can speculate about why Obama didn’t pick Elizabeth Warren to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but I’m not sure she knows either. Here’s the long view: Obama could have dumped the CFPB in the legislative process that led to the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. In fact, he was pressured by some Democrats — specifically, …
Still Stalled: Debt Talks Splinter as Negotiators Go Their Own Ways
Washington’s debt-ceiling talks have entered a new and desperate phase. With two weeks to go until the U.S. begins to cut government services to avoid defaulting on its credit obligations, negotiators are further apart on a plan …