Follow every last twist and turn in the default crisis at TPM LiveWire.
There’s been a delicate dance all week between Speaker Boehner and Leader Reid over whose debt bill would get voted on first in their respective chambers. The dance was almost entirely driven by political factors. Basically, who would look best in the public eye and who would be in the strongest position to negotiate a final deal.
But with the House’s failure to even take up the Boehner plan yesterday, that delicate dance is over because Reid is bumping up against Senate procedural deadlines. If he doesn’t move today, he likely can’t get his bill to a final vote before August 2, when Treasury runs of money.
Sounds like Harry Reid is going to push forward with his debt bill today in the Senate regardless of what happens in the House. “The last train is leaving the station,” Reid just said on the Senate floor.
A brief excerpt of Reid’s floor speech, as prepared for delivery: Read More
Revised government data released this morning shows the recession was significantly worse than previously thought. Instead of shrinking by 2.5 percent in 2009, the economy actually shrank by 3.5 percent.
Two points to remember about that: Read More
