“We’ve seen this coming all year long. But here’s the challenge: To stop him, we need a vehicle that can pass in both houses.”
From a source familiar with the call, this is what House Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans on Sunday
I went on “Fox News Sunday” this morning because it was the most effective way to tell everyone where things stand. It boils down to this: The president wants his $2.4 trillion debt limit increase all at once, without any guarantees that we’re going to cut more than $2.4 trillion in spending. The administration says they have to have it all upfront so we don’t have to deal with this again until after the next election. You heard the president say that himself on TV the other night.
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“These are serious allegations. He has said that himself. I can’t judge their veracity, but if they’re true, then he shouldn’t be serving in Congress.”
Pressure on Democratic Rep. David Wu to resign intensified Saturday as leaders in his own party began confronting the embattled Oregon lawmaker over allegations that he had an unwanted sexual encounter last Thanksgiving with a young California woman.
But Rep. Mary Nolan, a Portland Democrat who lives in Wu’s district and is running for the Portland City Council, came close to calling for Wu’s resignation.
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“In 1996 Thomas Friedman said: ‘There are two superpowers in the world today in my opinion. There’s the United States and there’s Moody’s Bond Rating Service. The United States can destroy you by dropping bombs, and Moody’s can destroy you by downgrading your bonds. And believe me, it’s not clear sometimes who’s more powerful.’ ”
We may have an answer soon. Dave Dayen is watching the ratings agencies, particularly S&P, say that a clean debt ceiling increase won’t cut it, and that there needs to be a $4 trillion dollar deal in order to keep the United States’ credit rating secure.
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“Executive experience is not an asset if it simply means bigger and more intrusive government.”
In a statement just released from her presidential campaign, Michele Bachmann delivers a harsh counterattack on her former home-state governor, hitting back at his charge that she lacks the experience to be president and blaming Tim Pawlenty for a “multi-billion-dollar budget mess” back home.
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“That was my first surprise when we started taking some colour images. There are orange regions, and bluish regions. The colours are deeper than I’ve seen before on asteroidal and lunar-type bodies.”
The giant asteroid Vesta is revealing more of itself to the US space agency’s (Nasa) Dawn mission.
The probe has beamed back further images since entering into orbit around the 530km-wide rock on 17 July. [New pictures included]
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We don’t have a deal on the debt ceiling because neither side has anyone with required attitude… that of the honey badger. (WARNING: Some language not appropriate for a PG-13 audience.)
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