Senate Leaders Near Deal

Senate leaders near deal

Senate leaders are close to a deal that would extend the U.S.’s borrowing capability to February 7, fund the government until January 15, and force Washington to hold budget talks by December 13th. Even though this deal would fend off a potential default, end the 15 day government shutdown, and change the immediate deadlines in favor of three new ones over the next four months, Tea Party republicans are expected to oppose the deal. This deal is not a final solution, rather an extension to give congress time to negotiate. At this point, kicking the can down the road is progress because it takes us away from the edge of financial collapse.

If Congress Can't Reach A Deal, it wouldn't be the first U.S. Default

 If Congress can’t reach a deal, it wouldn’t be the first U.S. Default

America has briefly not been able to pay its bills on two occasions. The first time was when the White House and Capital were burned during the war of 1812. The second time was in 1979 when a back-office glitch ended up costing taxpayers billions of dollars. That was also blamed on bickering lawmakers who couldn’t agree on a backlog of paperwork. In 1979, it was lawmakers determined to attach a strong balanced budget amendment to the bill the caused the shutdown. They finally relented, the day before Social Security checks were expected to start bouncing.

Congress is still locked in a heated debate that could torch that economy, but at least Washington isn’t literally on fire. 

Obama to meet with GOP

Obama to meet with GOP:

House Republicans are set to hold talks with president Obama today in an attempt to strike a deal on the federal debt ceiling and budget. Yesterday, the possibility of short term increase for the debt limit was floated in the hopes more time would lead to more productive talks and eventually a broader compromise. Any conversation between the two parties is progress, but these meetings will have to go very well for a resolution to be reached by next week's deadline.