House Republicans have a problem. They have trapped themselves in a no man’s land of political hostage taking. The GOP leadership has basically admitted they can’t really play chicken with the debt limit again, but at the same time many in the rank and file refuse to give up on the idea that voting on [...]

Now that the House has passed the three month suspense of the debt limit, it is safe to say President Obama won this standoff. The original Republican position was that any debt limit increase had to be accompanied by spending cuts. Obama said he would not negotiate this time and wanted a debt limit increase [...]

House Republicans are about to fold on the debt limit. They are no longer going to demand that any increase in the limit be matched with spending cuts. But because nothing in Congress can be simple and easy, the House Republicans are going to wrap up the debt ceiling in a convoluted face saving measure. [...]

One of the most memorable parts of President Obama’s hour-long press conference on Monday came he was forced to face the issue of his own negotiating credibility problem.

I would love to hear individuals threatening not to raise the debt limit have to explain why that law must be followed, but the President must break other contradictory laws to do so. I’m very interested in hearing, for example, the legal reasoning behind why Wall Street bond holders should still be paid while doctors, FBI agents and seniors should be stiffed.

The next big budget fight is going to be the debt limit, so it is critical to know when true deadline will be reach. An analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center projects that the Treasury will no long have funds to pay its bills starting some time between February 15th and March 1st. From the [...]

The next looming fight in Congress is clear and the battle lines have already been drawn. The debt ceiling will be reached in roughly two months. President Obama claims that he will not negotiate over it again. Meanwhile Republicans are demanding spending cuts with no tax increases in exchange for raising the debt limit. Republicans [...]

In preparation for the next fight over the debt ceiling, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is publicly downplaying the potential risk of the federal government going over its debt limit. In a new Op-Ed Cornyn compared going over the debt limit to only a partial government shutdown. From Cornyn: Over the next few months, we will [...]

Even though Speaker John Boehner should be the most powerful Republican in Washington, as we have seen, it is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who ends up making the deals. McConnell is not only more skilled at getting agreements, but he can more successfully whip his caucus behind any decision he makes. So when McConnell [...]

Just two weeks ago President Obama was taking a very firm stand on the debt ceiling. He was claiming he would never again allow something so dangerous to be used as a political bargaining chip, but almost immediately he crumbled like a sandcastle at high tide. President Obama went from demanding a permanent solution to [...]