A giant sigh of relief will emanate from the White House once the budget deficit crisis passes. This presumes that the Republicans will have again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory — or reasonable compromise — as they have been in the habit of doing. This however will not be a victory for President Obama and the Democrats as much as a train wreck averted, but there are still plenty of cows...

UPDATE: For a more in-depth discussion on how “Struggling with debt, Congress talks defense cuts,” please click here. Starting with the words, “Taking a stance once unthinkable in a time of two wars, Democrats and Republicans alike are insisting that the billions spent on the military can be significantly cut back over the next decade as the nation struggles to reduce its spiraling debt,” the AP article...

As I read over the post former Governor Sarah Palin placed on Facebook, I have conflicting thoughts on how I feel about the message and the messenger. The message is sound. The freshmen members of the GOP were elected, in part, by Tea Party activists and other Republicans, Independents and yes even some Democrats to deal with the mess of the national debt and the deficit caused by massive overspending on items...

A Dow drop of almost 200 points Wednesday could be the first tremor of panicky bears preparing to escape an economic conflagration that Congress seems intent on setting off. Will the markets be full of investors with their hair on fire today or Monday as the debt-ceiling deadline looms? While the House and Senate continue to play chicken, Wall Street (Heaven help us all) looks like the last hope for sanity,...

As members of Congress continue to rumble over raising the U.S. debt ceiling, they might spare a thought to the hundreds of millions if not billions of souls in other nations who are experiencing heartburn over their behavior. This editorial from Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun expresses concern that the debt ceiling brawl is hindering the recovery from Japan’s triple catastrophe last March. The Yomiuri...

The normally retiring newspapers of Japan, the country that holds the second largest amount of U.S. debt, are letting out some of there inner tigers in reaction to the prolonged debt ceiling debate. This editorial from Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun implores American lawmakers to act responsibly so as not to plunge the world into another major financial crisis. The Mainichi Shimbun editorial says in part: It...

Who has the worst job.  Barrack Obama is expected to fix an economy that can’t be fixed – a bad job.  But then we have John Boehner – he has the job of herding cats – a group of teabillies who’s hate of Obama makes economic catastrophe preferable to giving Obama what he needs to avoid catastrophe.  The orange man is discovering you can’t herd cats. Speaker John Boehner...

Tensions have been growing at the Jones family for quite a while now. Recently, it has been getting downright ugly. A couple of years ago, Mrs. Jones met an attractive, silver-tongued man—we’ll call him simply T.P. —who at first wooed her with compliments and lured her with pied piper tunes. But as their romance grew, so did T.P.’s influence on and demands from Mrs. Jones, including that she...

Is a U.S. credit downgrade inevitable? Here’s a roundup.

RJ Matson, Roll Call This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The titular head of the Republican Party, known for his short-fused temper, has exploded after two and a half years of volcanic quiescence. John McCain, who had to placate far-right opposition to keep his Senate seat last year, is finally blowing his lid over “Tea Party Hobbits” for their “foolish” and “deceiving” behavior in pushing a balanced-budget amendment. Moreover, he has also freed himself...

WASHINGTON — What the country yearns for is moderation. What we hear about is the political center. But centrism has become the enemy of moderation. Moderation in politics is about balance. It means believing in a vibrant and innovative private sector and a government substantial enough to do what the private sector doesn’t and to enforce sensible rules for economic competition. It means...

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th. The current fiscal year 2010-2011 was a product of congressional compromise four months ago that was passed with Tea Party support. Congress already approved federal borrowing that would exceed the current debt limit. There are only two months left before this fiscal year ends and another fiscal year begins for which there is no budget in...

So tell me again who busted the budget.  Yes it was one George W. Bush!  It’s those bills the Republicans don’t want to pay.  The Bush tax cuts alone exceed the entire projected budget impact of Obama’s policies and didn’t contribute a single job – it’s alleged purpose.  Bush’s stimulus spending also exceeds Obama’s.  And don’t forget Bush inherited...

In the battle of the debt crisis, one particular bit of triangulation is mostly being overlooked by the media and political pundits. Sure, we know that President Obama is trying his best to pull a Clinton (Bill, not Hillary) out of his hat to survive the 2012 reboot of the presidency. However, the more interesting balancing act to me has been of Speaker of the House John Boehner. Speaker Boehner’s balancing...

Here’s proof of what’s wrong with the politics — part of the stench that many Americans and particularly independent voters are smelling more and more. Here’s Speaker of the House John Boehner explaining why his debt ceiling plan is a good one: But Boehner said he couldn’t understand why any Republicans would position themselves with Democrats opposing his plan. “Barack Obama hates...

Our political Quotes of the Day underscore how GOPers are starting to openly show dismay at what now seems to be a clear desire on the part of some Tea Party members of Congress to hurl the United States into default for economic reasons (their view of how to for the country’s financial house in order their way) and craven political reasons (believing President Barack Obama will be blamed and the GOP...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The Speaker, with his feat of displeasing almost everyone in the debt-ceiling mess–the White House, Tea Party, GOP Senators, even the Congressional Budget Office–is earning his place in a volume that was in the making years ago to commemorate historic feats of mismanagement, “They Must Know What They’re Doing or They Wouldn’t Be Where They Are.” It would have honored the Captain of the Titanic,...

As the United States nears the August 2 deadline for raising its astronomical debt ceiling, much of the world is watching with dismay. Frankfurter Rundschau columnist Thomas Spang writes that Tea Party lawmakers are close to achieving what America’s enemies ‘have only dreamed of.’ For Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau, Thomas Spang writes in part: Not even warnings from the [financial...

Is America going the way of ancient Egypt and the Soviet Union? Columnist Avtandil Tsuladze of Russia’s Yezhednevniy Zhurnal writes that America built a pyramid based on a gold-backed dollar. It then proceeded to loot it for all it was worth by making it the global currency of choice, rejecting the gold standard and exploiting its inflated value – until now. For Russian’s Yezhednevniy Zhurnal,...

Our political Quote of the Day comes from The Daily Beast’s John Avlon, who details the hypocrisy of Speaker of the House John Boehner against the backdrop of Boehner’s televised speech that countered President Barack Obama last night. Here are some key parts of his piece (go to the link and read it all): This is starting to give Kabuki theater a bad name. The competing congressional debt ceiling...

UPDATE: Politico reports: In the battle of budget scores, the Senate Democrats’ deficit reduction bill is the clear leader thus far over an alternative by Speaker John Boehner, which had to be pulled back from the floor Tuesday night for retooling. The Congressional Budget Office released a report Wednesday morning that credits the Senate bill with reducing budget deficits by about $2.2 trillion through 2021,...

House Speaker John Boehner’s new budget proposal would require deep cuts in the years immediately ahead in Social Security and Medicare benefits for current retirees, the repeal of health reform’s coverage expansions, or wholesale evisceration of basic assistance programs for vulnerable Americans. The plan is, thus, tantamount to a form of “class warfare.” If enacted, it could well produce the greatest...

Financial Brinkmanship by Martha Randolph Carr This weekend’s news cycle was either an indication that we have become over the top self-absorbed or more accurately, a really good indicator of how much trouble the U.S. economy will be in if we falter and default on our obligations, even if it only lasts for a few days. It’s an amazing moment in journalism when a terrorist bomb and a mass slaying...