Brian Beutler has our report on what happened yesterday in the debt deal negotiations that had Senate Democrats so enraged and the White House scurrying to control the damage.
A campaign snapshot of cheap photo ops, simplistic narratives, and presidential ambitions.
I totally get why Standard and Poor’s and the other credit rating agencies will downgrade U.S. government debt if the debt ceiling isn’t raised and there’s a default. No argument there.
But the idea that S&P wants to dictate the size and scope of deficit reduction is not only mystifying to me but I think it’s actually quite dangerous: Read More
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer: “Anyone reporting a $3 trillion deal without revenues is incorrect. POTUS believes we need a balanced approach that includes revenues.”
A nervous-sounding Harry Reid presses the White House not to agree to a debt deal with no revenue increases: “There has to be a balance. There has to be some revenue in the cuts. My caucus agrees with that. I hope the President sticks with that. I’m confident he will.”
Herman Cain warns Iowa Republican Party not to let candidates skipping the Iowa caucus participate in the upcoming Ames Straw Poll.
TPM has confirmed reports that House Speaker Boehner and President Obama may in fact be close to a big time debt deal. All cuts, no immediate revenues. Our story.
Everyone knows that Grover Norquist has long held most of Republican Washington by the short hairs with his no-tax-increases pledge. So any debt ceiling deal that includes tax increases is practically DOA for Republicans, almost all of whom have signed Grover’s pledge.
It may be bad policy. It may give Grover ridiculously outsized influence. But it’s pretty clear cut. Read More