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WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday set the stage for a bruising election-year showdown on fiscal policy, vowing to hold up another increase in the federal debt ceiling unless it was offset by larger spending cuts. His combative comments came on the same day the Republicans’ presumptive nominee, Mitt Romney, hit President Obama hard on his fiscal stewardship in a speech in Des Moines, suggesting that Mr. Romney and Congressional Republicans see an opening to attack the president on the mounting federal debt and the size of the government. Mr. Boehner’s stance threatened to throw Congress back into...

There is nothing quite like a $70 billion debt auction settlement at the last day of a month to bring total US debt to a record $15.692 trillion, which happens to be just $600 billion shy of the $16.394 trillion debt ceiling. (and no, contrary to simple economic textbook lesson, this does not mean that the private sector just got another $70 billion in debt capacity courtesy of taxpayers, as explained here). And now that we know what Q1 GDP was at the end of Q1, or namely $15.462 trillion, it is simply math to divine that today alone total...

Earlier today, outgoing Treasury Secretary and tax challenged part-time pathological liar (see here) Tim Geithner said that any worries of the US debt ceiling are misplaced, and that at best such an event would occur "late in the year" (and to think the August 2011 extended $16.394 trillion debt ceiling was supposed to last well into 2013). Naturally, coming from Geithner, it meant this statement was a flat out lief the second it left his mouth, which is why we decided to do our own analysis of just when the latest and greatest debt ceiling would be breached. The answer...

What happened? Obama and his advisers have cast the collapse of the talks as a republican failure. Boehner, unable to deliver, stepped away from the deal, simple as that. But interviews with most of the central players in those talks— some ofwhomwere granted anonymity to speak about the secret negotiations — as well as a review of meeting notes, e-mails and the negotiating proposals that changed hands, offer a more complicated picture of the collapse. Obama, nervous about how to defend the emerging agreement to his own democratic base, upped the ante in a way that made it more difficult...

President Obama had just arrived home, walking across Lafayette Square after attending Sunday services with his family at St. John’s Church. In the West Wing, Obama ducked into the spacious office of his chief of staff, where he found his negotiating team huddled with two leading Republicans and a passel of aides. To the outside world, it looked like a do-nothing summer Sunday, a disturbingly quiet reminder of government dysfunction. The prevailing theme on the weekly political talk shows was things falling apart. In two weeks, the government would be unable to pay its bills. Where were the administration and...

Two weeks ago when discussing the latest lunacy surrounding America's exponential curve #1 also known as its debt balance, we suggested what the GOP election strategy should be: "[if] the debt ceiling becomes a sticking point at the election, Obama's chances of reelection plunge. Which makes us wonder - will Republicans grasp that the paradox of defeating Obama is precisely in giving him a carte blanche on all the stimulus programs he wants? Because if Congress approves another $200, 300 or even $400 billion in stimulus pork (the only thing better than one Solyndra? One thousand Solyndras!) the Treasury will...

This will make you laugh and cry at the same time...Please share.

House rejects debt limit hike in protest vote 4:38pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted to reject a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote aimed at staking out election-year positions on government spending. The House voted 239 to 176 along party lines in favor of a "resolution of disapproval" against the increase sought by President Barack Obama, but the the winning tally was far short of the number needed to override an Obama veto.

The House of Representatives voted to reject a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote aimed at staking out election-year positions on government spending. The House voted 239 to 176 along party lines in favor of a "resolution of disapproval" against the increase sought by President Barack Obama, but the the winning tally was far short of the number needed to override an Obama veto

When Barack Obama and the Democrats fought to raise the debt ceiling last summer, there wasn’t another news story that could drown out the fervor on that issue. But, now that the national debt has ballooned to $15 trillion dollars and grown to the size of the entire U.S. annual economy, and Obama is already talking about raising the ceiling again, where is the same fervor? Have Americans become somewhat desensitized to it all? When liberal economist Paul Krugman says we should all relax about this whole debt thing, is he insane? Or not? Put financial analyst and business owner...

Rep. Ron Paul will drop off the campaign trail in South Carolina on Wednesday and fly back to Washington to cast a vote against raising the debt ceiling, his campaign said Tuesday. ... Mr. Obama said late last month the federal government was once again close to breaching the legal limit on how much it can borrow, and he requested Congress raise the ceiling again. Opponents would need to pass a resolution disapproving of the increase and have it signed into law, or else override a presidential veto, to bloc the increase — which is highly unlikely. But returning to...

From Sen. Obama’s Floor Speech, March 20, 2006: The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is asking Congress for another $1.2 trillion increase in the nation’s debt limit. The request is largely a formality. It’s the third and final request the president is allowed under a deal the White House and lawmakers reached in August to prevent a government default. But Republicans are likely to use the election-year request as an opportunity to criticize the president’s spending policies. Congress has 15 days to reject the president’s request. The White House says Obama would veto any objections in order to avoid a default. Obama originally planned to make this request in...

Yesterday, as the New Hampshire returns rolled in, I tweeted wearily, “I’d hoped for something different.� The incomparable Stephen Kruiser tweeted back, “You’re young. Get used to saying that if you plan on staying in the GOP.�That wisdom returned to me this morning when I read this from CNSNews.com: When the Republican-controlled House approved its first CR on March 4, 2011, the national debt was 14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the U.S. Treasury. As of the close of business on Jan. 9, 2012, the national debt was 15,236,506,139,986.86.That means the debt increased by $1.05 trillion over the past ten months.That equals approximately...

As Zero Hedge reported first, the US is once again, in just 5 short months (see chart), back at the debt ceiling, with just $25 million in new debt issuance dry powder, or in other words, no space of more debt absent resorting to the same "technique" last seen in late July when the Treasury plundered from government retirement accounts in order to accommodate new debt, such as yesterday's issuance of 3 Year bonds, and today's 10 Year bonds. And as The Hill reported yesterday, Obama is expected to request that Congress allow the incremental and final $1.2 trillion debt...

Have a column on Iowa coming soon, but first, a quick but absurd note from the world of high finance. It seems Jim O'Neill, the head of Goldman's Asset Management department, is predicting that the United States stock market may go up "15 to 20 percent." O'Neill apparently believes Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve will resort to another round of money-printing, and finally green-light the long-awaited "Qe3," or third round of "Quantitative Easing." The QE programs involve the Fed printing hundreds of billions of dollars and pumping them into the marketplace, where they ostensibly stimulate the economy (although recent...

The Obama administration will be asking Congress to raise the debt limit in the coming days, White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Tuesday. "I'm confident it will be executed in a matter of days, not weeks," he told reporters. The notification by the administration — which had been scheduled for last month — was delayed because Congress has been holding only pro forma sessions.

It's simply amazing how quickly the US managed to hit its debt target, pardon, debt ceiling all over again...And now the Social Security Fund pillaging begins anew until Congress signs off on the latest interim debt ceiling increase.

Politicians are like New Year's revelers whose resolutions to get fit are as habitual as their unhealthy lifestyles. The most undisciplined merrymaker continually ups the weight-loss ante —10 pounds last year, 20 pounds this year — just as undisciplined politicians alleging fiscal prudence have upped their borrowing limit 4,967 percent since 1962, 67 percent since 2009. If you thought politicians were pummeled into fiscal restraint after last summer's debt-ceiling debacle, which led to America's credit downgrade by S&P, Think Again. In fact, 2011 ended with debt reaching the new limit of $15.22 trillion compelling Treasury to request another $1.2 trillion...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Since the congressional super committee appears unable, or unwilling, to take a lesson from Indiana or Virginia -- where Republican governors have made spending cuts and delivered budget surpluses without damaging the social safety net -- members might wish to consider Puerto Rico and what its governor, Luis Fortuno is doing. Fortuno is Puerto Rico's first Republican governor in 42 years. In 2009 when he took office, the U.S. territory had a $3.3 billion budget deficit. Three years earlier, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the commonwealth's bond rating to junk status while in deep recession. Like...

It will be the latest sobering economic milestone that few were hoping to see: The U.S. national debt – any day now – will soar above the $15 trillion mark. As of this writing, the total debt is $14.97 trillion, so moving beyond the symbolic $15 trillion is a foregone conclusion. When the unwelcome milestone is reached, it will come at a volatile time both in this country and abroad. Across the Atlantic, President Obama is in Cannes, France, for the G-20 summit that takes place as Europe is trying to finalize a bailout for debt-ridden Greece. Back on the...

Tea Party activist David Lewis announced Friday he will challenge House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a Republican primary in 2012. Lewis describes himself “a devout Christian, Tea Party leader, and pro-life leader” on his campaign website. “David's only allegiance is to God and cannot be swayed by party, individuals, or interest groups,” the site reads. Lewis told The Cincinnati Enquirer his candidacy was prompted by Boehner’s support of a federal budget that included funding for Planned Parenthood. Lewis participated in anti-abortion activist Randall Terry’s sit-in at Boehner’s Congressional office in February, where he and five others were arrested on...

The U.S. Senate, in an unusual procedure, cleared the way Thursday for the U.S. to lift its borrowing authority by $500 billion to $15.19 trillion, enough to keep the support federal government borrowing through late January or early February. The action came under an unusual legislative procedure spelled out under the August agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. credit default. In a 52-45 vote, the Senate blocked an attempt by Republicans to slow down the process that will result in the $500 billion debt-ceiling increase. The increase stems from a deal between Congress and the...

In a 45 to 52 vote on Thursday night, the Senate failed to advance a resolution that would have disapproved of a pending $500 billion increase in the nation's debt ceiling. Under the debt-ceiling agreement reached in early August, the Obama administration was authorized to immediately raise the debt ceiling by $400 billion. Another $500 billion increase was authorized this month, although that could have been blocked if both the House and Senate approved resolutions expressing disapproval. Earlier in the day Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) threatened to hold the Senate open for up to ten hours on Friday...

Remember when one month ago the US, to much pomp and circumstance, not to mention one downgrade, announced a grand bargain raising the debt ceiling from $14.294 trillion to something much higher, with a stop gap intermediate ceiling of $14.694 trillion, or $400 billion more. Well, as of today, or less than a month since the expansion, total US debt is at $14.697 trillion. Yep - the total debt is again over the ceiling, which means the US debt increased by $400 billion in one month. Score one for fiscal prudence. And while the total debt subject to the limit...

Apparently we can now call Obama unpatriotic, and he'll have to agree with it.

The unpopular debt-ceiling deal has significantly hampered President Obama’s effort to win over independent voters. Since Democrats were thumped in the 2010 midterm elections, Obama repeatedly has sought to burnish his reputation with independents, often at the sake of his Democratic base. Yet a Gallup poll this week found Obama trailing not only leading GOP candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry among independent voters, but long-shot candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) as well. The poll found that Obama leads Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), but only by a six-point margin, 48 percent to 42 percent. The results suggest that opposition to...

Federal spending has ballooned 28 percent during the Obama Presidency while the government has amassed more debt than it acquired from the first day of George Washington’s administration to the last day of George H. W. Bush’s. Our nation is racing toward a fiscal cliff. Yet, as Sen. Jim DeMint noted, instead of hitting the brakes, Congress and the President just set the cruise control. “The Budget Control Act of 2011” offers an object lesson in exactly the sort of empty compromise that has gotten our nation into its present mess. Faced with the devastating consequences of unprecedented and unsustainable...

Together We Can Beat the Deficit We did it in the 1990s and we can do it again today. By PATTY MURRAY, MAX BAUCUS AND JOHN KERRY Our country has long been a beacon of light in the world because the American people always come together when times are tough. Over the past few months, in debating the debt ceiling and deficit reduction, that light of common cause has appeared to flicker at times in our nation's capital. As appointees to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction—12 members of Congress charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over...

Rick Perry continues his campaigning in New Hampshire today, where Mitt Romney is expected to perform strongly in the first primary of the nomination process (Iowa is a caucus, of course). The Texas governor and new frontrunner — at least in one poll — campaigned strongly to the right, rejecting both the notion of anthropogenic global warming and the debt-ceiling compromise approved by Congress earlier this month: Rick Perry says he does not believe in global warming. The newest Republican presidential candidate also says he would not have signed the debt-ceiling compromise brokered by Republicans and Democrats. …The Republican also...

When a President is caught in a "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" vise—as President Obama was during the debt ceiling crisis—it's tempting not to let him go. The right wing certainly feels that way, but the discourse on the left seems to be on the same track. Maybe it's possible to raise the level of the discussion. One way is to see that the level of the solution isn't found on the same as the level of the problem. Obama has taken that view as his long-term strategy. His position is that acrimonious divisions in government, the...

Further: 'I will work hard to protect entitlements... the only problem with the Reid Senate is that we didn't keep a fillibuster-proof majority... " Yeah. The Super Committee is gonna work. /S

We Stop for Ducks By Norma Zager “Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?” Will Rogers Few Americans haven’t seen a line of baby ducks following the Mama duck across the street. This picture also includes a line of cars stopped on both sides to allow the ducks safe passage. I, too, stop for ducks. Human beings are nothing if not paradoxical. The safety of a baby duck is paramount, and yet we allow the good of our nation to come second to political and...

I don’t usually watch a lot of network news, but a couple of Sundays ago, I had been out all day and wanted to see what was happening on the debt ceiling front, which was at its media-consuming peak that day. I tuned in to “NBC Nightly News” and was rewarded with this gem of an exchange between ace reporter Andrea Mitchell and the lovely Brian Williams: Andrea (fighting back tears): “Our entire government seems to be dysfunctional.” Brian: “Some members have come to town and they don't care if they get re-elected. That is a whole new dynamic. They...

Rep. Xavier Becerra — or, to be more precise, lobbyists working on his behalf — wasted no time Thursday capitalizing on the California congressman’s appointment to the congressional super committee. A little over two hours after Becerra was named to the powerful panel, Investment Company Institute’s Jim Hart sent out an email encouraging attendance for the trade group’s upcoming $1,500 per person fundraiser based on Becerra’s new found status as one of the elite 12. “We will host an event for Congressman Xavier Becerra, not only Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus but also who has just been named to...

Some Democratic members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, tasked with identifying $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, have become the subject of criticism, but their appointments were only finalized Thursday. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, and Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina and Xavier Becerra of California are already being targeted for circumstances that could compromise their abilities to negotiate. Becerra, for example, wasted no time before using his appointment as a fundraising tool for his own campaign.

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the top donors to election campaigns for the 12 members of the U.S. Congress named to a deficit-fighting "super committee." Known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the panel is expected to be the most heavily lobbied body in Washington ahead of its Nov. 23 deadline for making recommendations on $1.5 trillion in additional budget savings. Unless specified, donations below combine members' campaign committees and leadership PACs (political action committees). Data is from www.opensecrets.org. SENATE DEMOCRATS Patty Murray of Washington state * Software giant Microsoft Corp...

All 6 Democrats on Deficit-Reduction Panel Earned 'F's From Taxpayers’ Union Thursday, August 11, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey (CNSNews.com) - All six Democrats that have been assigned to the special joint congressional committee that will recommend means for cutting the nation’s anticipated spending by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years compiled voting records last year that earned them grades of “F” from the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) announced today that she has assigned Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn (S.C.), Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Xavier Becerra (Calif.) and Budget Committee Ranking Member...

John Driscoll, the Republican state Senate candidate from Paramus, is hitting the hustings Friday with "my congressman," Scott Garrett, politely pestering voters hovering over their eggs and coffee in diners. The duo had better hope that some voter doesn't pour a pot of tea over their heads. The Driscoll-Garrett campaign tandem comes amid the first wave of debt ceiling–S&P downgrade reviews panning Congress's performance — especially the conduct of Republican congressmen. And especially Republican congressmen closely allied with the Tea Party zealots whose intransigence brought the United States to the brink of default. Garrett is a Republican congressman who voted...

LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday announced his appointments to the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction tasked with reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion more than the cuts already identified in the Budget Control Act. McConnell appointed Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). “Chronic joblessness, out-of-control deficits and debt, and an unprecedented credit downgrade represent an historic challenge but also an historic opportunity for lawmakers in Washington to show they can work together on a plan that puts America back on the path to prosperity. All three of these...

n the first of what will be a closely watched selection process for a powerful new deficit panel, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he will appoint Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Max Baucus (Mont.) and John Kerry (Mass.) as his three choices for a super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in spending cuts by the end of this year. Murray will serve as co-chair of the 12-member panel. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will select her co-chair and two other panelists, as required by the debt limit agreement signed into law by President Barack Obama last week....

You know, I’m beginning to have some frightening thoughts. For example, on Monday, as I simultaneously watched the President say nothing useful and the Dow plummet nearly 200 points, I found myself thinking that maybe Joe Biden wouldn’t make such a bad president after all. Yes, I know, good old open-mouth-insert-foot Joe, they guy who, while introducing wheelchair-bound Sen. Chuck Graham, called to him to “[S]tand up, Chuck, let the people see you!” The same Veep who was caught on mike during the Obamacare signing ceremony telling the President, “This is a big f*ing deal!” The very same gentleman who...

ENID — The number $1.43 trillion will work well for Republicans in the 2012 election, said Matt Pinnell, chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party. He made the remarks about the federal budget deficit at a meeting Tuesday of Garfield County Republican Women in the Gantz Center at Northern Oklahoma College Enid. Pinnell is the youngest state party chairman in the United States. “It is the highest budget deficit in history,” he said. That and other budget and unemployment numbers are the ones Republicans believe will defeat President Barack Obama next year. Republicans are keeping their campaign simple because they believe...

The decision by Standard & Poor’s to strip the United States of its AAA credit rating, for the first time, has triggered a barrage of catcalls against the umpire from the press box and Obamaites. S&P, we are reminded, was giving A ratings to banks like Lehman Brothers, whose books were stuffed with suspect subprime paper, right up to the day Lehman Brothers fell over dead. Moreover, S&P made a $2 trillion error in its assessment of U.S. debt and used political criteria in making its downgrade. All of which may be true. But none of which is relevant. This...

Sarah Palin Facebook page is a battleship from which many powerful broadsides have been launched. On Monday afternoon, she wrote one of her longer posts, called “Conquering the Storm,” to address the Obama Downgrade. It’s a big piece, but well worth reading in full. Compare it to the weary talking-point retread our clueless President delivered in his statement on the same afternoon, and you can see why the markets were nose-diving even as Obama spoke. Palin wrote the speech he should have given, but is utterly incapable of conceiving. As Palin points out, the S&P downgrade wasn’t a surprise to...

When one considers the casualness with which left-wing politicians and media figures use words like "terrorist," "jihad" and "Wahhabis" to describe the Tea Party, one cannot help but wonder what shapes such attitudes in the first place. In order to satisfy such curiosity, it is necessary to spend time among liberals, socialists, communists and self-described progressives. I realize this is not the way a lot of conservatives would want to spend their morning -- much less their afternoon or evening. Yet when in a political conflict, especially one that is likely to shape the very future of this country, it...

Liberals outline stimulus agenda in 'Contract for the American Dream' By Erik Wasson - 08/09/11 10:57 AM ET Liberal organizations and unions are frustrated that President Obama has not aggressively pushed a new jobs stimulus agenda and they are offering up a consolidated fall agenda for Democrats to embrace as an alternative to austerity. Representatives of MoveOn, Rebuild the Dream and the Center for Economic Policy and Research will join Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) on Tuesday to launch a progressive “Contract for the American Dream” to urge the administration and Congress to turn away from budget cutting and focus on...

In a 2,300-word posting on Facebook about Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit rating, Sarah Palin said Monday that she had warned of the danger of federal overspending, adding that President Obama “doesn’t have a plan” or “even a notion of how to deal” with the fiscal issues facing the country. “Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to ‘fix’ the debt problem. The more he tries to ‘fix’ things, the worse they get because his ‘solutions’ always involve spending more, taxing more, growing government, and increasing debt,” Palin wrote. “His press conference today was just...

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, fell another point on Monday. At 61.5, consumer confidence is down three points since Standard & Poor’s downgraded the federal government’s credit rating. Seventy percent (70%) now believe that the economy is getting worse. That’s up from 45% at the beginning of 2011. Data for these updates is derived from a series of nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, today’s update includes two days of data collection after Standard & Poor’s announced their decision to downgrade the...

Credit rating agency Standard and Poor's on Monday downgraded the debt of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The downgrades to AA+ are part of the continued fallout from the agency's decision to drop U.S. sovereign debt to AA+, an unprecedented move that rattled investors and sparked concern over the long-term impact of the action It was widely expected that S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt would roll downhill to other entities that are closely linked to the federal government.