Elections

Budget Battles

  • Senate Negotiation on Shutdown Ends in Stalemate

    By PAUL KANE and LORI MONTGOMERY, The Washington Post

    Senate leaders began negotiations Saturday aimed at reopening federal agencies and avoiding a government default after every other effort to end Congress’s impasse crumbled in the previous 48 hours...

  • No Deal Yet: Obama Rejected the GOP's 6-week Proposal

    By LORI MONTGOMERY and ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN and WILLIAM BRANIGIN, The Washington Post

    President Obama is rejecting a key element of House Republicans’ latest proposal to extend the federal debt ceiling, opposing a linkage between a short-term increase and negotiations on the budget,...

  • Down to the Wire: Will There Be a Deal This Weekend?

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    The state of the government shutdown (and possible default) is in limbo, as pessimism began to give way on Friday to that rare combination of hope and uncertainty . After weeks of a tense showdown,...

  • Relief from Debt Ceiling Disaster Doesn’t Mean a Deal

    By Josh Boak, The Fiscal Times

    House Speaker John Boehner proved that he sincerely intends to avoid a government default, floating a plan Thursday to extend the debt ceiling for six weeks. It’s a positive sign that the economic...

  • How Federal Workers Became Obama’s Private Army

    By Edward Morrissey

    The United States established the Civil Service 142 years ago, in response to the massive corruption that followed from the previous “spoils system” in Washington DC. Prior to that, all federal...