Apr 19 Poll Numbers, Credit Rating Complicate President Obama’s Mission on Deficit President Obama poses with the Air Force Academy football team during the Commander in Chief's Trophy presentation Monday at the White House. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. It's days like Tuesday when President Obama might be thinking, "Can't… Continue reading
Apr 15 Vote on Ryan Budget Sets Stage for 2012 House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., holds a copy of his budget proposal "The Path to Prosperity." Photo by Bill Clark/Roll Call. If you weren't paying close attention this week, you may have missed it. But make no… Continue reading
Apr 14 House Vote on Budget Compromise Looks to Be Rocky House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, predicted passage of the budget compromise deal. Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Remember that much heralded 11th-hour deal to cut $38.5 billion from this year's federal spending in order to avert… Continue reading
Apr 13 Obama to Unveil ‘Grand Bargain’ on Deficit and Debt Reduction President Obama is set to give a major speech on his plan to address the nation's deficits and debt. Photo by Shawn Thew/Pool via Bloomberg. When President Obama takes the stage at George Washington University at 1:35 p.m. Continue reading
Apr 11 Shutdown Averted, Obama and GOP Prepare for Much Bigger Fights Ahead President Obama shakes the hands of tourists visiting the Lincoln Memorial during a surprise visit a day after negotiations with Congress prevented a government shutdown. Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool-Getty Images. Political leaders in Washington were able to… Continue reading
Apr 08 Democrats, Republicans Must Beat Midnight Deadline to Avoid Shutdown Federal employees protest a potential government shutdown outside the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chicago. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images. The stakes at this point are crystal clear. When the clock strikes midnight Friday the federal government will run… Continue reading
Apr 07 With Government on Brink of Shutdown, ‘Narrow’ Differences Remain Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, left, and House Speaker John Boehner speak to reporters outside the White House following a meeting with the president. Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Congressional leaders have taken budget negotiations to… Continue reading
Apr 06 Budget Negotiations Down to the Wire Two days. That's all congressional leaders have to agree on billions in cuts to a trillion-plus dollar budget in order to avert a government shutdown at midnight Friday. While significant sticking points remain -- including the amount of… Continue reading
Apr 05 Rep. Ryan Risks Political Backlash With GOP Budget Rollout Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairs the House Budget Committee. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. As Congress wrangles over relatively minuscule reductions in non-defense discretionary spending for the remainder of the fiscal year (more on that below),… Continue reading
Apr 01 Jobs Up, Unemployment Down as Economy Continues Slow Recovery A woman walks by a help wanted sign in San Francisco last week. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. The economy added 216,000 jobs to the payroll in March, and the unemployment rate ticked down a notch to… Continue reading