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As the national conversation over our debt reaches an almost screeching crescendo, we here at TalkingSides.com are taking a break to offer a brief respite from the chaos with these snippets of lyrical verse: Congressional leaders are dealing To raise the borrowing ceiling The left wants more debt The right says not yet First get the economy healing.

It really went down this way. Really...

President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of a stormy debt-limit meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, a dramatic setback to the already shaky negotiations. “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. On a day when the Moody’s rating agency warned that American debt could be downgraded, the White House talks blew up amid a new round of sniping between Obama and Cantor, who are fast becoming bitter enemies. When Cantor said the two sides were too far apart to get a deal...

Here's the dirty little secret. Raising taxes kills jobs, kills the economy, and deepens a recession into a Great Depression. Taxes aren't the lowest they've ever been. Obama and his friends (the FOOLS) are lying to you. Taxes are the highest in history when you add up federal income taxes, state, local, property, sales taxes, social security and medicare taxes, taxes disguised as fees, and the loss of deductions. The tax burden on small business owners has never been higher. And Obama threatens to make it far higher- perhaps an unimaginable ten times higher by taking away the home mortgage...

For five years, Israel has practically begged Hamas to accept hundreds of terrorists in exchange for the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas has consistently refused to make a deal, and has just as consistently refused to budge even one inch from its opening position, demanding the release of some 1,400 terrorists in exchange for Shalit. It's time for a new approach, says Ron Kehrmann, father of Tal Kehrmann, who was killed in 2003 when terrorists bombed a bus she was riding on in Haifa. And as one who has lost a child to terrorism, Kehrmann has paid...

President Obama, seeking a Republican agreement to raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug 2, will not insist that any deal include an end of President Bush's controversial tax rates on the wealthy. Obama's tactics are coming into clearer focus: they involve seeking higher taxes not on a broad swath of high income earners but on a narrower band of the super rich, such as owners of private jets. This means that those who earn $250,000 have got a reprieve.

Enshrining work rules in public union contracts restricts managers from getting a full day's work from employees and prevents them from firing poor performers. If collective bargaining were confined to wages, contracts could be streamlined, and management control over disciplinary procedures could be restored. There wouldn't be hundreds of teachers earning their full salary while grievance processes drag on for years. Padded payrolls could be reduced significantly. Union dues form a vast pool for buying influence. In effect, dues let workers hire their bosses when used as campaign contributions—gifts that typically aren't subject to the limits imposed on individuals and...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is playing with fire. And Israel is getting burned. Over the past week, it has been widely reported that the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government are conducting secret negotiations regarding future Israeli land surrenders to the Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem. According to the reports, the Obama administration has presented Netanyahu with a plan whereby Israel will cede its rights to eastern Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley to the Palestinians and then lease the areas from the Palestinians for a limited period. The reports on the length of the lease vary. Some claim...

RAMALLAH, West Bank -The Palestinians will study alternatives to peace talks with Israel in the coming days, a top PLO official said Saturday, after Israel gave the green light to build 238 new houses for Jews on war-won land Palestinians seek for their state. However, it's unlikely the Palestinians will take any dramatic steps before Nov. 2 midterm elections in the U.S., since Arab leaders have already promised the Obama administration more time — until a few days after the vote — to try to relaunch negotiations. Saturday's statements seemed intended mainly as a new warning that Washington's peace efforts...

Reuben and Shimon are placed into a small room with a suitcase containing $100,000 of cash. The owner of the suitcase offers them the following: "I'll give you all the money in the suitcase, but only on the condition that you negotiate and reach an amicable agreement on its division. That’s the only way I will give you the money. " Reuben, who is a rational person, appreciates the golden opportunity presented to him and turns to Shimon with the obvious suggestion: "Come, you take half the amount, I'll take the other half, and each of us will go away...

Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai has held talks with the country's second largest militant group, in an unprecedented step towards peace. Mr Karzai has met representatives of Hezb-e-Islami, the Afghan militant group second only to the Taliban, in his first confirmed direct talks with militants. Hezb-i-Islami spokesman Haroun Zarghoun said it was the first time the group had sent senior envoys to Kabul for talks. Mr Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omer confirmed the militants gave the president a 15-point plan for possible peace talks. "The main point of the plan is the withdrawal of all foreign forces from July this year, and...

See Eight Clips of Obama Promising Televised Healthcare Negotiations. Video at link:

The health care revolution will not be televised despite what President Obama promised you two years ago. Obama has broken his campaign promises to make the health care debate a transparent process after saying he would do so on at least eight ocassions during his 2008 White House run. Instead, Obama prodded House and Senate Democrats to get him a final health care bill as soon as possible -- encouraging them on Tuesday night to go behind closed doors and skip the usual public negotiations between the two chambers in the interest of speed.

House Democratic leaders wrapped up a meeting on health care with President Obama at the White House Wednesday saying that progress was being made on getting a final bill to the President’s desk. “I think we’re very close,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told assembled reporters outside the White House. Democrats have aimed to get a final bill to Obama's desk before his State of the Union address scheduled for sometime in early February. Asked about the timing and whether the conferencing process could be completed during the month of January, Pelosi replied “it’s possible.”

Happy New Year, Fox fans! Execs from News Corp. and Time Warner Cable worked out a 13th-hour deal to keep Fox channels on the cable powerhouse -- ensuring that football and "Simpsons" fans can continue to get their fix. The agreement in principle was announced 19 hours after a deadline that threatened to leave millions of Time Warner customers without several Fox channels. "We're pleased that, after months of negotiations, we were able to reach a fair agreement with Time Warner Cable, one that rec ognizes the value of our programming," said Chase Carey, president of News Corp.

Fox programs were still playing on Time Warner cable early this morning -- a hopeful sign that the media giants would strike a deal. Carmen Electra and "American Idol" singers Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta -- stars of Fox's New Year's Eve show -- rocked past the midnight deadline on local Time Warner Channel 5 with no interruption, as negotiators worked into the early hours of 2010. "We're still negotiating and going to give it a little more time," said Scott Grogin, senior vice president of communications for the Fox Networks Group. Harriet Novet, regional vice president for Time Warner's...

Arab honour is at the root of Arab rejectionism and intransigence. It prevents Arabs from accepting blame or compromising. It also prevents Arabs from losing land to Israel or ending the conflict. Arab honour is closely linked to Islamic concepts of jihad and dhimmitude. Arab honour impells them to seek domination. Failure to dominate, dishonours them. Accepting responsibility is an anathema to their honour.. Muslim violence against the publication in Denmark of cartoons featuring Mohammed is a prime example of their refusal to accept the rule of law or western norms that are at odds with what their honour demands....

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Honduras' opposing political factions resumed talks Thursday and expressed hope that a deal could be reached soon to end the power crisis that has paralyzed the country since a coup four months ago. The two sides returned to the negotiating table a day after visiting U.S. diplomats urged both factions to be more flexible and find a solution before previously scheduled presidential elections looming in November. The international community has threatened to not recognize the vote if deposed President Manuel Zelaya is not reinstated. Rodil Rivera, a Zelaya representative, said Thursday an agreement could be signed calling...

A concerted effort to start unprecedented talks between Taliban and British and American envoys was outlined today in a significant change in tactics designed to bring about a breakthrough in the attritional, eight-year conflict in Afghanistan. Senior ministers and commanders on the ground believe they have created the right conditions to open up a dialogue with "second-tier" local leaders now the Taliban have been forced back in a swath of Helmand province. They are hoping that Britain's continuing military presence in Helmand, strengthened by the arrival of thousands of US troops, will encourage Taliban commanders to end the insurgency. There...

Hardly a day has passed in recent weeks without Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu appealing to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to join him in peace negotiations. Sunday, July 12, this appeal was particularly inappropriate, issued as it was at a ceremony marking the 105th anniversary of the death of Binyamin Zeev Herzl, who envisioned the Jewish state which is anathema to the Palestinians. A few hours later, Abu Mazen's spokesmen, Saeb Erakat and Abu Rodeina, predictably spurned the invitation. Before negotiations, they said, Israel must accept the Palestinian refugees "right of return" and halt all settlement activity...