Contradicting the Obama administration, Moody's Investors Service says that hitting the debt limit shouldn't be confused with default. The Washington Post writes:
According to the Budget Control Act, the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or the so-called supercommittee, must be formed within 14 days of the bill becoming law. Since President Obama just signed the law, Congress has until August 16, two weeks from today, to fill the slots.…
Speaking in the Rose Garden at the White House Tuesday afternoon, President Barack Obama tepidly praised Congress for passing the debt limit deal that he said will “avert a default that would have devastated our economy.” The president called the bill an “important first step” in reducing the…
Just after noon today, the Senate easily passed the debt ceiling deal bill, 74-26. The House of Representatives passed the bill last night, and the president will presumably sign the bill today, the deadline set by the Treasury Department for raising the debt ceiling to avoid a default.
Earlier this evening, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending, 269-161. Sixty-six Republicans voted against the bill, titled the Budget Control Act of 2011, while an equal number (95) of Democrats voted for and against it.
Politico: "Biden: Tea partiers like 'terrorists'"
Can the debt deal pass the House of Representatives? House speaker John Boehner has said he believes he has the votes from the Republican caucus, and Steny Hoyer, the Democratic minority whip, says he can deliver 80 to 100 votes from his side of the aisle. Key GOP House members who have said…
Talking Points Memo: "Reid Agrees To Major Debt Limit Deal — Here’s What He’s Signed Off On"
Members of Congress and their staff who know and care about defense are somewhere between alarmed and panicked at the emerging shape of the debt ceiling deal. (Consider this amazing on-the-record statement by Senator Joe Lieberman’s communications director to Jennifer Rubin just a few minutes ago:…
At a meeting this morning in the Capitol, House Republican leaders unveiled an amended debt limit plan. National Journal has the latest text of the plan, but what has Republicans more confident that it will pass the House is the inclusion of a plan to with balanced budget amendment (BBA) proposals.…
Washington Post: "U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda on brink of collapse"
According to a poll conducted earlier this week by CNN and Opinion Research Corporation, 66 percent of Americans would support a plan that would raise the debt ceiling "only if a balanced budget amendment were passed by both houses of Congress and substantial spending cuts and caps on future…
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Budget Committee, has just released a statement today that criticizes both Senate Democrats and President Obama for lacking leadership on producing a budget. Noting the Gang of Six plan's "serious flaws," Sessions says the president needs to show…
The Obama administration issued a press release this afternoon to declare that the president would not sign the "Cut, Cap, and Balance" legislation if it were pass in the House of Representatives:
Andrew Biggs and Matthew Jensen: Cutting spending, not raising taxes, is the path to prosperity.
A core group of conservative Republicans in the House of Representatives is standing firm against any deal on the debt limit that doesn’t include major budget and spending reforms. Thirty-six House Republicans have signed the “Cut, Cap, and Balance” pledge, which demands Congress make “substantial”…
Louisiana senator David Vitter just released the following statement, expressing disapproval of Mitch McConnell's proposed debt ceiling plan:
Despite press reports that have indicated Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia would not support a debt ceiling deal that involves tax hikes, the senator won't reveal, when asked in person, where he actually stands on the contentious issue.
Eugene Robinson is outrageously outraged over Republican perfidy:
In his New York Times column today, David Brooks writes that Republicans opposed to tax hikes as a part of a debt limit deal "have no sense of moral decency." The column happens to include a rather conspicuous typo:
"S&P to deeply cut U.S. ratings if debt payment missed"
Obama poisons the bipartisan well, yet again.
"Thirteen Clear Factual Errors" in that Time magazine cover story on the Constitution.
"Reid Nixes 'Gang of Six' - Members Stunned"