Democrats Need to Bite the Bullet

Well, it looks like we may have avoided economic Armageddon. Earlier today, House and Senate GOP leaders negotiated a deal with President Obama to raise the debt ceiling through 2012 and cut approximately $3 trillion of spending from the federal budget. Predictably, House Democrats are furious that the deal includes no new revenues and many are threatening to vote against it: one of the more colorful descriptions of the deal came from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who called it "a sugar-coated Satan sandwich." Some Democratic analysts have predicted that this anger over what they see as capitulation from President Obama will lead to only 50-80 Democratic votes for the plan, which would leave House Speaker John Boehner in the unenviable position of pushing it through his own caucus (something he's had a bit of trouble with of late). Still, as much as it hurts, the deal could still be a win for Democrats, and more importantly it is a desperately-needed win for the country.

Emanuel Cleaver finds your lack of revenues disturbing.

Eleven Minutes to Midnight

The clock in Washington is ticking, and we still don't have an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. After weeks of on-again-off-again negotiations that have run into every possible roadblock (Eric Cantor, the Tea Party, Eric Cantor, Democratic mutiny and Eric Cantor, to name a few), it still looked like President Obama and Speaker Boehner would have a deal soon—at least, it did until this afternoon, when the Speaker told President Obama that he was withdrawing from negotiations. Two very angry press conferences ensued and here we are: 11 days away from a default on the full faith and credit of the United States and no deal in sight. To be perfectly honest, you can start to panic now.

Yes, you can call this Angry Obama.