There are really only two men in Washington who have any idea of what’s going on with the race to reach a bipartisan deal on deficit reduction and they’re not talking much. On Thursday, President Obama and House Speaker John …
debt ceiling
Bachmann’s Keywords: Against, Won’t, Didn’t
In a new ad set to run statewide in Iowa, Michele Bachmann concentrates on the fiscal-conservative leg of her stool. Still in the early courting stages with Hawkeye voters, she regurgitates her biography first (Iowa-born, tax lawyer, mom), and then she speaks out against the bailouts, against the stimulus and against raising the debt …
Behind One of These Three Doors Is a Debt Ceiling Deal
Washington these days feels like a 1960s game show. Our lucky contestants, House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama, are on the stage in front of three doors, listening intently to the audience cheer before they …
Liberals Fear Obama Is Bungling Debt Talks
When President Obama meets at the White House on Thursday morning with Democratic and Republican leaders from Congress, all of Washington will be watching carefully for any hint of progress toward a deficit-reduction deal that …
What Congress Can Cut: Anatomy of a Grand Bargain
For all the melodrama in weeks of Washington’s deficit reduction talks – Republicans walking away from the table, President Obama calling them on the carpet, Wednesday’s purely symbolic vote on “shared sacrifice” from the …
Obama: No Short-Term Deal on Debt Limit
Never mind the mix of taxes and spending. With a potential default on the national debt less than a month away, President Obama and congressional Republicans can’t even agree on how much more borrowing authority any debt limit deal should involve. On Tuesday, Texas Senator John Cornyn became the latest Republican to suggest that the kind …
A Guide to the Debt-Ceiling Debate: What Each Faction Wants
President Obama challenged Congress on Wednesday to start working with him on a deficit-reduction deal that could be tied to a vote to raise the debt ceiling, which must happen by Aug. 2, according to the Treasury Department. …
Obama to Congress: Do Your Job
When in doubt, bash Congress. It’s a handy rule of thumb for almost any President, and in his East Room press conference on Wednesday, Barack Obama offered a clear lesson in how to do it.
The central issue of Obama’s presser …
In Debt Ceiling Chicken, Boehner Makes a Big Show of Tying on the Blind Fold
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXuQRuMw1is]
“Nobody believes the United States is going to walk away from its obligations,” Speaker Boehner said of the debt ceiling negotiations in a Tuesday interview on Fox News. With no hesitation, he then strongly hinted he’s perfectly happy to force the United state to walk away from its …
McConnell: Obama Has ‘Made It Worse’
Last month, for this story in the dead-tree edition, I asked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell if defeating President Obama is still his No. 1 priority. “Yeah, sure. I think every Republican in the country would like to elect a Republican president,” McConnell told me. “But that’s next year. The question this year is: what …
Will Big Business Pressure the Tea Party Into Raising the Debt Ceiling?
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called in response to my post yesterday on the ongoing debt-limit negotiations. In the piece, I linked to a quote from Chamber chief Tom Donohue, who during an event in Atlanta on Monday appeared to warn the House Republicans vowing to vote against a debt-ceiling hike: “We’ll get rid of you.”
Chamber …
Debt Limit Talks Enter Crunch Time, But Negotiators Remain Far Apart
Between now and August 2, Congress is highly likely to vote to raise the federal debt limit. And yet, much of what you read and hear seems to suggest otherwise. News headlines are forbidding. Business gurus issue dark warnings; …
On Deficits and Debt, the Voters Get a Say
I wish our Democratic leaders would make their fiscal case as clearly and fearlessly as Michael Grunwald does.
To recap: Democrats are in favor of short-term deficit spending because they believe it will stimulate desperately needed growth. And they believe that growth, plus higher taxes (plus the one thing Mike doesn’t mention: …