Free Republic

President Barack Obama told congressional leaders that a deal must be in place on Friday, or lawmakers will have to make contingency plans to raise the national debt ceiling, a top Democratic negotiator said Thursday. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) relayed Obama’s message to reporters Thursday, saying they will have to act fast on a Plan B if a deal doesn’t appear in place by tomorrow. Treasury has said the country will run out of money to pay all of its bills on Aug. 2. "The president has expressed to the group that by Friday we have to get...

Between this and the Moody’s news, tomorrow ought to be fun on Wall Street. Per Slublog, remember during Campaign ’08 when this guy’s big selling point was his “first-class temperament”?Also, am I right in thinking that the only two times O has walked out on a meeting are today and when he met with Bibi Netanyahu back in March of last year? That’s quite a record of indignation, champ. You really know how to get tough with the enemy. Cantor said he told the president that the two sides remain so far apart at this point that he doubted they...

U.S. President Barack Obama clashed with Republican lawmakers on Wednesday in a fierce White House meeting on deficit reduction that left a deal in question as the clock ticked toward a debt default. "Enough's enough," Obama said, according to a Democratic official familiar with the talks. The meeting came as Moody's Investors Service jolted Washington with a stark warning that the United States may lose its top credit rating in the coming weeks if the $14.3 trillion limit on America's borrowing was not raised. The warning sent the U.S. dollar tumbling against most major currencies. Stock futures and debt prices...

CBS says President Obama “abruptly” left the debt negotiations meeting with Congress. He said “enough’s enough” and that he had been “very patient.” During the meeting, Speaker of the House John Boehner reportedly challenged the President to offer real spending cuts. He said the gimmicks and accounting tricks that Washington has used for decades are not applicable here, according to the GOP aide. When White House officials allegedly attempted to justify budgetary gimmicks, the House Speaker John Boehner said pointedly and, “We’re not doing that anymore,” according to the GOP aide. Politico has details of the stormy exchange between Eric...

President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of a stormy debt-limit meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, a dramatic setback to the already shaky negotiations, according to GOP sources. “He shoved back and said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’ and walked out,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told reporters in the Capitol after the meeting... “Eric, don’t call my bluff,” the president said, warning Cantor