OPINION - Brooks and Capehart 12/3/2021

"Brooks and Capehart on the future of abortion rights, government funding brinkmanship" PBS NewsHour 12/3/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the omicron variant, U.S. government funding, and a major abortion case before the Supreme Court.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  With the Omicron variant, a near government shutdown, and a major abortion case before the Supreme Court, it has been a busy week in Washington [DC].

To examine it all, we turn to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.  That is New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart.

Hello to both of you.

Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post:  Hi, Judy.

Judy Woodruff:  Haven't you both together in a long time.  It's good to have you here.

Let's start with the Supreme Court, Jonathan, that long awaited Mississippi abortion case, intense oral argument.  It was — once you started listening, it was hard to turn away.  A lot of people are saying they think they know what's going to happen based open that.

What did you make of it?

Jonathan Capehart:  You don't know what's going to happen based on the — based on those arguments.  We have been down this road before with the Affordable Care Act, when people listened to the or arguments and they thought for sure Obamacare [Republican name for ACA] was going to be the declared unconstitutional, and the decision came out months later, not the case.

But I do think that the concern, after listening to those oral arguments about the constant, what's going to happen to Roe v Wade, whether Roe v Wade will be overturned, is real and it's serious, primarily because, when Donald Trump was President, running for President, he said he would appoint justices to the court who would overturn Roe v Wade.

That was during the campaign.  He got three appointments to the bench.  There is now a 6-3 conservative majority.  And that is why, after listening to those oral arguments, I'm concerned and a lot of people are concerned that a constitutional right is — could be on the verge of being overturned.

And I think that's why Justice Sotomayor's question is the defining one for me, where she asks:  "Will this institution survive the stench this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?"

Judy Woodruff:  A lot of people are quoting that "survive the stench" line.

David Brooks, New York Times:  Yes.

Well, I think Roe is in danger at some point.  Once the thought is expressed as clearly as it was expressed, I think, eventually, they're going to get around to it.

And I have, frankly, been someone who has always supported the overturning of Roe, not because I'm necessarily pro-life, but because I think the court should not decide it.  I think the legislatures, and it should be decided by the democratic process.

And I have always believed — I used to believe, I should say, that, if it went back to legislators, the legislators would settle where the American people have settled.  The majority of American people do not want to ban abortion.  They want to restrict it in some way.  And different states would restrict it.

And I have always assumed that we would wind up where Europe is, with tighter laws than we have, but not a ban.

I am no longer so sanguine that our political system can handle a massive debate over an incredibly hard, incredibly complicated question.  And I say that with the awareness that majorities don't seem to rule anymore.  Polarized minorities rule in our politics very often.

And so we may wind up, if Roe is overturned this year, next year with just vicious cultural, moral, political battles at a time when our democracy is extremely fragile.  And that has got to be worrying.

Judy Woodruff:  What do you see the ramifications, Jonathan?  We don't know what's going to happen.

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.

Judy Woodruff:  But if it goes in the direction it seems to be headed, even if it's something short of completely overturning Roe?

Jonathan Capehart:  Yes, the political ramifications are huge, and I think part of the reasons that David was talking about.

I mean, for Democrats, I'm sure — if we want to get baldly political, for Democrats it could be a way of galvanizing the base at a time when the midterm elections are coming.  Democratic voter turnout traditionally is lower during midterm elections.  And they could possibly be on the verge of losing the majority in the House.  For Republicans, this could be a galvanizing thing for them in 2022 and 2024.

But, in addition to all the things that David said, the question then becomes, it's also a very personal decision.  When we're talking about a woman's reproductive health, it isn't just whether — does she have access to abortion?

No, this is one of the most personal things that she might have to endure, or will have to endure.  And I look at the possibility of the overturning of that precedent, and I look at other precedents out there that could also — with a 6-3 conservative majority, that could also be in danger.

I'm thinking about Obergefell.  I could be looking at a possibility where my marriage could be nullified by the Supreme Court.

So…

Judy Woodruff:  Upholding same-sex marriage.

Jonathan Capehart:  Yes, upholding same-sex marriage.

So, what happens with the Mississippi case — in the Mississippi case, but also we haven't even talked about Texas.  And we're still waiting to hear what the court has to say about that, which actually has even more implications for, I think, things like same-sex marriage and other precedents.

Judy Woodruff:  David, your point about whether the country can withstand that kind of a — can the court withstand the perception that decisions are made based along party lines?

I know Justice Breyer and others have said, oh, no, that's not what's going on here.

David Brooks:  Yes, of course, those on the pro-life think the court got into this in 1973 with Roe and they politicized it, and they invented a right.  That would be the pro-life argument.

And since then, our court and our judicial nomination system has become hyper-divided, hyperpolarized, because — basically because of that issue.

Can the credibility of the court — Justice Breyer and Justice Barrett said, we're not political creatures.

Judy Woodruff:  Right.

David Brooks:  And, from their day-to-day perspective, that may appear to be true, because there are a lot of decisions that we don't talk about.  They're not the big major decisions that are 7-2, 8-1, 9-0.

But I have to say, when I reflect back on the big decisions that really make the headlines and really shift American history, from Bush v Gore on to what's about to come, I'm stunned by how incredibly easy to predict the votes based on their partisanship.

And so, on the big issues, I think the court has become quite predictable and quite partisan, like the rest of America.

Judy Woodruff:  Well, speaking of partisanship, Jonathan, the Congress this week — I guess the Democrats just barely got out of town, at least for the weekend, without having the government shut down.  They were able to reach agreement over government spending.

But what — the Democrats still have some — and the President still have some big agenda items before them this month.  What does it look like is going to happen?

(LAUGHTER)

Jonathan Capehart:  Chaos, Judy.  Chaos.

We have got — so we avoided a government shutdown, actually, a day early, if you really think about it.  But we now have a debt ceiling deadline, December 15, according to the Treasury Secretary.  The National Defense Reauthorization, that's supposed to be at the end of the year; Build Back Better, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says, oh, we're going to get it done by the end of the year or Christmas.

OK.  Sure, if you say so.

But — and that's just, that's the stuff on the table.  You have got Republicans who, on all of these things, are — basically, they're not there.  They're not a governing partner.

The problem comes when you have got Democrats talking to Democrats, and especially with Build Back Better.  So I said chaos, I have no idea how this is going — how this is going to turn out.  But if it does turn out, it's just going to be messy, and it will bleed into next year, into 2022.

And that's a problem for Democrats, because — well, for the country, because, once we — once 2022 is on the calendar, everything is going to grind to a halt, because nobody's going to want to get anything done.

Judy Woodruff:  What does it look like to you?

David Brooks:  Yes, and I saw a quote, an unnamed quote from a Hill staffer, saying the odds of getting Build Back Better this year were like 20 or 25 percent.

So that — because you got to have CBO scoring.  You got to figure out what Joe Manchin wants.  And so that's — it would be very bad for Democrats.  Joe Biden was elected to be competent, to show it would be calm, we'd have a master — the hand on the tiller, blah, blah, blah.  And the longer Democrats go on, then the worse that claim looks.

But I would say one thing in defense of the Democrats.  (A) it's basically a 50/50 Congress.  That's hard.  (B) if you look back at American history, the Great Society took years to pass.  The New Deal took years to pass.  Our system was not built for speed.

What worries me most — and this is about the government shutdown — like, they're now capable of doing nursery school level legislative activities.  And you feel like they're just barely doing that.

I had a dentist once who was in my mouth and said:  "I'm on the edge of my skill level here."  And she is in my mouth.  And I'm like, "What?"

(LAUGHTER)

David Brooks:  So, I feel like the skill level on Capitol Hill is not where it should be, because they don't have experience of successful legislation.

That — Teddy Kennedy did it.  Back in those days, they really know how to do this stuff.  And so that's the big worry to me.

Judy Woodruff:  That's an image Jonathan and I are going to keep in our — we're going to keep that in our minds.

(LAUGHTER)

Judy Woodruff:  But members of Congress you know may remember the nursery school level.

David Brooks:  Oh.

Judy Woodruff:  The President, Jonathan, has one other thing on his plate right now.

And that, of course, is the is the variant, the new variant now.  On top of Delta, we have Omicron.  It's everywhere in the world.  It's in multiple states.  He's done a few things, travel ban.  We're going to have increased testing.

How does it look?  How does his management of this look?  How much is riding on his management of this?

Jonathan Capehart:  Well, a lot is riding on his management of this, but I do think he is striking the right tone.

When we were talking about this last week, it was like, oh, my God, what is this thing?  It's super contagious.  I even mispronounced it because it was so new.

Judy Woodruff:  A lot of us did.

Jonathan Capehart:  Right.

But the President comes out and he says, don't panic.  Get vaccinated.  Get your booster.  Wear your mask, basically saying to the American people, look, we have the tools to be protected against this.

And I also think that the American people, after a year-and-a-half of doing this, no one wants to go into a shutdown, not the President, not — and certainly not the American people.  So we know how to protect ourselves.

So I think, if the President and the administration, as much as it can, project calm, but also clarity in what we need to do to protect ourselves from Omicron, he will be OK.

But, yes, everything is riding on this, because if we do get to a situation where he has to come to the American people and say, we have got to lock down again, even if it's for a good reason, I don't know how that's going to go over.

Judy Woodruff:  It was something the NIH Director, Francis Collins, who I talked to today, said it's something they don't want to do.

David Brooks:  Right.

And Francis said, we're not powerless.  I think that's the big story here.  We're not where we were a year ago.  And, to me, the best thing the administration has done is buy millions of doses of this Pfizer and Merck treatment regimes.  So, you get a positive test, you get five days, and you take 30 pills.  I think that's the Pfizer one.

And it has like an 85 percent of reducing — chance of reducing your hospitalization and death.  So that suggests we're going to enter a phase where we're not going to kill COVID the way we wish, but we're going to learn to live with it, the way we live with the flu.

And I think we're sort of at that point.  And we're going to — we're — if you're fully vaccinated and you're under 50, your odds are quite good.  It's still the folks who need the continued care.

And so I think we're just going to be in a country with a lot of COVID around for a long time.  But we have tools now to make it a lot safer.

Judy Woodruff:  We do have the tools.

And, again, Director Collins saying, if we — as you said, he said, we just need to keep doing what we do — doing what we know how to do, which is the testing and pills.

All right, we're going to leave it there.  Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, so good to have you back again.

Thank you.

Jonathan Capehart:  Great to see you, Judy.

Judy Woodruff:  Thank you.

POLITICS - Compromise as Evil

Here's the truth.  Starting just after Obama won election (before he was sworn into office) Republicans have made "compromise" an evil word.  Trash the concept that compromise it at the heart of governing.  They became the our-way-or-no-way party.

"Rep. Meadows: Trump debt ceiling deal with Democrats was a 'necessary evil'" PBS NewsHour 9/12/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump's decision to side with Democrats on the debt ceiling deal frustrated critics on the right, including North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, who was one of 90 House Republicans to vote against a package to fund the government and Hurricane Harvey aid.  John Yang talks with Meadows about divisions within the GOP, how the party can get results and what's on the agenda.

OPINION - Shields and Gerson 9/8/2017

"Shields and Gerson on Trump's deal with Democrats, DACA's demise" PBS NewsHour 9/8/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson join John Yang to discuss the week's news, including President Trump decision to side with leading Democrats in a deal on the debt ceiling and Hurricane Harvey aid, the move to end DACA and whether more moderate Republican lawmakers will retire from Congress.

JOHN YANG (NewsHour):  From hurricanes to wildfires, natural disasters have drawn the country's attention away from the political storms in Washington this week.

But rest assured, we will bring you up to speed now with the analysis of Shields and Gerson.  That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson.  David Brooks is away.

Gentlemen, welcome to you both.

We had the unusual scene this week of a bipartisan leadership meeting in the Oval Office, and the President cuts off his own treasury secretary as he's making a recommendation and agrees with the opposition party on this debt ceiling, on a short-term C.R.  and Harvey aid.

Michael, what do you make of all this?

MICHAEL GERSON, The Washington Post:  Well, it's just a massive shift.

It wasn't that long ago they were talking about putting the wall on the debt relief.  And so it's a huge change.  I think that, you know, the Art of the Deal is easy when you surrender.  That book wouldn't sell very well, but it's true.

And he signaled surrender, not just on this issue, but somewhat on DACA and somewhat on the whole issue of debt, the debt ceiling, trying to get that out of American politics.  So it was a firestorm for Republicans.  They're wondering, is this the new world?

JOHN YANG:  Mark?

MARK SHIELDS, Syndicated Columnist:  I'm not sure it's the new world, but I am sure that, if I were Mitch McConnell, I would be seething with anger, the Republican Senate leader, because what Donald Trump did to him and to Paul Ryan (the speaker) was cut them off at the knees.

They had to go back to their respective caucuses and tell them, no, they weren't going to take the position that they in fact had endorsed and told them they were going to take on the debt ceiling and the continuing spending resolution, but, in fact, they were going to follow the advice embraced by the President of Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate leader, and Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic Well.

So, if you're McConnell, just taking it from his perspective, he's trying to hold on to a Senate majority going into headwinds of 2018, which doesn't look like a good Republican year, and he's got a President who is not helping him in that sense.  He's got to have something he can point to that the Senate has accomplished.

The last, best hope, or only hope, actually, is probably tax cuts for their supporters and their admirers.  And without the President, he can't do that.  And so he has to bite his tongue, bite his lip, and any other part of his facial extremity that he can and swallow hard, because he just — he was really diminished by this.

MICHAEL GERSON:  Yes, I think we Republican leaders look pathetic, though, in a certain way.

They were livid, according to the reporting, on that three-month debt increase.  They weren't livid on nativism.  They weren't livid on misogyny.  They were not livid on serial lying.

I think that it makes them look like they have kind of a moral center problem, that this is what the final straw is, is a difficulty.  Also, they have given a lot.  They have given their standing.  They have given their — almost their political character for nothing so far.

MARK SHIELDS:  I agree.

MICHAEL GERSON:  I mean, they have literally gotten nothing.  And tax reform may not even happen, and if it happens, it might be a scaled-back version.

So they have give an whole lot for very little in return.

MARK SHIELDS:  You're absolutely right, Michael.

But I would just add that one picture that came out of that meeting of Donald Trump and Chuck Schumer each with their hands on the other's lapels and shoulder, you could almost see them — kind of Trump was in his element, trash-talking to Schumer.  And I knew you.  You were from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, and Schumer to him saying something like, Donald, you're from Jamaica, Queens.  Who are you kidding?

And it's not a continuing relationship, but there's a chemistry there that isn't present with either McConnell or Ryan.  Ryan is a choir boy to Donald Trump.  He's a darling of The Wall Street Journal editorial page.  He's never had a relationship with McConnell.

I agree, but — I agree with what Michael's point is.  What were the words of Charlie Sykes, the Republican talk show host from Wisconsin who's a friend of Paul Ryan's?  He said, quoting “A Man for All Seasons,” Paul, you know, for whales, you have traded your soul, but for a tax cut, you have traded your soul.

And I think there's a lot of truth to that.

MICHAEL GERSON:  He's a diminished figure.

MARK SHIELDS:  Yes.  Yes.

JOHN YANG:  Chuck Schumer, who he called the chief clown, and is now…

(CROSSTALK)

MARK SHIELDS:  Yes, exactly, exactly.

JOHN YANG:  And Mitch McConnell — the President invited the Cabinet and their spouses up to Camp David this weekend.  One Cabinet spouse who declined, Mitch McConnell.

And how much was a shot across the bow at the Democratic — at the Republican leader — sorry — and was it his intent to diminish them?  And how much of this was situational?  He saw a deal he could take with the Democrats, and so he took it?

MARK SHIELDS:  I think it's always the latter with him.

And what was really remarkable was, he was delighted, was the President, in getting favorable reviews in the press that he hates, that he diminishes, that he denigrates on a regular basis, The New York Times, The Washington Post.

And so thrilled was he, he actually called Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer to bask in it and tell them the good reviews they were getting.

I mean, no, this is not a matter of strategy or conviction.  It's a matter of…

MICHAEL GERSON:  It's not a violation of his convictions.  I'm not sure he has any.

He has a set of instincts, which are nativist and nationalist.  But I don't think he has a set of economic and political philosophic conventions on spending or a lot of other issues.  So, when he makes this kind of turn, I think it's relatively easy for him.

POLITICS - Our Federal Debt Ceiling

Federal Debt Ceiling is our nation's 'credit card' limit.

"What you need to know about the federal debt ceiling, and why you should care" PBS NewsHour 9/7/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  An agreement between President Trump and Democrats for a three-month extension for the debt ceiling means Congress temporarily ducks a political debate.  But the recurring battle will surface again in December.  What could happen if we don't raise the debt limit?  Lisa Desjardins explains the history of the debt limit and how it works.

TRUMP AGENDA - 'Come on Down. Let's Make a Deal'

"Trump makes a debt ceiling deal with Democrats, complicating work for Republicans" PBS NewsHour 9/6/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Trump has sided with Democrats in a deal to tie $7.9 billion in Hurricane Harvey relief to funding the government and raising the debt ceiling.  The deal complicates relations with Republicans, who wanted a longer-term fix to the debt ceiling.  John Yang unpacks the proposal and what it means for the agenda awaiting Congress with Erica Werner of the Associated Press.

POLITICS - Congress and the Debt Limit

(aka: Tea Party Terrorists Loose a Battle)

"Treasury Secretary Lew on Congress ‘coming to terms’ with the debt limit" PBS NewsHour 10/28/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The bipartisan budget deal passed by the House is the product of negotiations between Congressional leaders and the White House.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sits down with Gwen Ifill to discuss how Congress achieved its moment of breakthrough, plus a rundown of some of the budget nuts and bolts.

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  Earlier this afternoon, I sat down with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew, thank you for joining us.

JACK LEW, Secretary of the Treasury:  Great to be with you, Gwen.

GWEN IFILL:  As we speak this afternoon, it looks like a vote is imminent on the budget deal and on budget deal that would also allow the debt limit to go up.

After kicking this can down the road repeatedly with Congress, what changed this time to allow a two-year deal to be on the verge of approval?

JACK LEW:  Well, I think a lot of things came together.

Obviously, the fact that the debt limit is going to be reached on Tuesday of next week, and they have to act before then, focused their minds on the debt limit in a very real way.  I have been communicating with Congress on a very regular basis.  It’s been getting closer and closer.  And I think it’s a good thing that they have reached an agreement, so that it certainly seems to be on track for the debt limit being raised in time to avoid that unnecessary self-inflicted wound.

On the budget side, there have been conversations going on for many years, but intensely for many weeks, to try and figure out how to resolve this year’s funding bills.  The approach is one that we have supported for a long time, which is to relieve the across-the-board cuts in sequestration by replacing the savings with a balanced mix of tax and spending items.

The breakthrough in the last week has enabled us to reach an agreement, where we have achieved that goal, and providing $80 billion of relief is going to give Congress the ability to write appropriations bills to meet our domestic needs and our defense needs.  This means that they will be able to invest in research and education and also in our national defense.

I think that’s what Americans want Congress to do.  It shouldn’t be so hard to get to these moments where these agreements can be reached.  And I hope this passes in a way that’s uneventful and enables Congress to get on with its work.

POLITICS - Debt Ceiling Fight Done

Seeing the hand-writing on the wall, are we.

"Boehner throws in the towel on debt ceiling fight" by Terence Burlij and Simone Pathe, PBS Newshour 2/12/2014

Excerpt

“You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ‘em.”

House Speaker John Boehner listened to his inner Kenny Rogers Tuesday, abandoning his search for a debt ceiling compromise that could win favor with his members and forcing Democrats to come up with most of the votes needed to pass an extension with no strings attached.

The passage of a “clean” debt limit hike on a narrow 221-201 vote takes the threat of a default off the table heading into the 2014 midterm elections and allows congressional Republicans to put the focus back on the rocky rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care law.  Just 28 Republicans voted with 193 Democrats to approve the measure, which allows the Treasury Department to borrow freely until March of 2015.

The sudden turnabout came after Boehner floated a handful of proposals to raise the debt limit in recent weeks aimed at drawing support from the GOP rank-and-file, with his last pitch including the rolling back of some cuts to military pensions agreed to as part of the budget agreement reached last December.  It also marks a sharp departure from the party’s strategy three years ago when Boehner insisted on a dollar-for-dollar match in spending cuts with a ceiling hike.

“When you don’t have 218 votes, you have nothing,” Boehner told reporters Tuesday.  “We’ve seen that before, we’ll see it again.”

With House Republicans unable to coalesce around a proposal, and lawmakers running out of work days before the Feb. 27 deadline, Boehner told his members at a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that he planned to move forward with a clean bill.  The Washington Post’s Robert Costa reports on the reaction to the announcement:

The room of Republicans sat up, stunned that Boehner was abruptly shifting away from the leadership’s plan, which had been championed 12 hours earlier at a Monday night meeting in the Capitol basement.  But there were no outcries or boos.  A few members whispered to each other that Boehner was right, that due to conservative opposition to any hike, he was cornered.

But they didn’t speak up or clap.  Boehner just stood there for a moment after he finished, eyed the room, and walked toward his seat.  On his way there, Boehner shook his head, then turned to the nearly mute crowd and wondered aloud why he wasn’t getting applause.  “I’m getting this monkey off your back and you’re not going to even clap?” Boehner asked, scowling playfully at some tea-party favorites.

Democrats welcomed the development, with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying on the floor ahead of the vote that the full faith and credit of the country should be “unquestioned.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid praised Boehner “for doing the right thing,” adding that he hoped “this common-sense approach will continue throughout the year, so we can actually get some things done.”

Reid also signalled his chamber would act on the legislation “as quickly as we can.”  A vote could come as early as Wednesday, with lawmakers hoping to leave town ahead of the snowstorm expected to wallop the region beginning later this evening.

Politico’s Manu Raju and Jake Sherman report that Senate Republicans appear poised to allow an up-or-down vote on the increase:

On the Senate side, Republicans were eager to get the matter taken care of, as well.  Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn of Texas said it “makes sense to me” to allow the matter to pass quickly with 51 votes.  The lower-threshold would let all Republicans vote against the plan, as opposed to the 60-vote filibuster threshold that would require the support of at least five Republicans — and potentially several days — to overcome.

“I know we’ve got a big storm approaching, and flights being canceled, plus I think people feel like it’s inevitable that we’re going to have to act on the debt ceiling,” Cornyn said.  “So the question is do you want to do it now?  Or put it off?”

Still, there remains some drama over the next step in the Senate, as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Tuesday that he would object to a simple majority vote, which would require some Republicans to join with Democrats to pass the measure.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 2//7/2014

"Shields and Brooks on economic ‘sludge,’ immigration reform standstill" PBS Newshour 2/7/2014

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the state of the economy in light of the latest job numbers, whether the debt ceiling will inspire another fight, the ongoing immigration debate in the House, plus hopes for the Olympic Games.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises Ends, Temporary Defeat of Tea Party Radicals

"Republicans Back Down, Ending Crisis Over Shutdown and Debt Limit" by JONATHAN WEISMAN and ASHLEY PARKER, New York Times 10/16/2013

Look of defeat

Excerpt

Congressional Republicans conceded defeat on Wednesday in their bitter budget fight with President Obama over the new health care law as the House and Senate approved last-minute legislation ending a disruptive 16-day government shutdown and extending federal borrowing power to avert a financial default with potentially worldwide economic repercussions.

With the Treasury Department warning that it could run out of money to pay national obligations within a day, the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday evening, 81 to 18, to approve a proposal hammered out by the chamber’s Republican and Democratic leaders after the House on Tuesday was unable to move forward with any resolution.  The House followed suit a few hours later, voting 285 to 144 to approve the Senate plan, which would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt limit through Feb. 7.

Mr. Obama signed the bill about 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

Most House Republicans opposed the bill, but 87 voted to support it.  The breakdown showed that Republican leaders were willing to violate their informal rule against advancing bills that do not have majority Republican support in order to end the shutdown.  All 198 Democrats voting supported the measure.

Finally, Boehner showed some backbone and true leadership.  Now I wonder how long he will keep his position.


"While GOP 'picked a fight that they couldn't win,' Democrats emerge reunited" PBS Newshour 10/16/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  What are the practical and political outcomes of the 16-day stalemate in Congress that's finally drawing to a close?  Although the GOP retained sequester spending levels, Democrats come out "energized and unified."  Judy Woodruff talks to Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report and Susan Page of USA Today.

"Italy's PM Letta: 'American leadership is needed' for Europe's economic growth" PBS Newshour 10/16/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As Congress narrows in on an end to the shutdown, the rest of the world is watching their actions closely.  Judy Woodruff talks to Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta about the importance of a U.S. budget deal on international market stability, the ongoing Euro crisis recovery and Italy's next move on immigration reform.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, Tea Party Radicals Crash Agreement (again)

These Tea Party radicals are just as bad as al-Qaida or any other foreign terrorist.  They are willing to risk the U.S. economy and our 'full faith and credit' around the world to get what they want, and cannot get through legitimate legislative means.  They think they can dictate U.S. policy by holding a 'gun' to our heads.

Democracy means you do not always get what you want, it requires compromise.  Our nation's debt limit has nothing to do with any other policy and needs to be raised without attaching demands.

"Senate suspends negotiations pending 'more acceptable' plan from House GOP" PBS Newshour 10/15/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Negotiations in the Senate towards a shutdown solution were interrupted by news that the House GOP would attempt to pass a bill that Majority Leader Harry Reid disparaged as "a blatant attack on bipartisanship."  Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.  Judy Woodruff gets an update from Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico.

"Known as the 'safest asset,' bond market braces for U.S. debt ceiling deadline" PBS Newshour 10/15/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  If lawmakers fail to avert a debt default, there could be a devastating impact on the national economy: mortgages soaring, consumers unable to borrow, the government forced to pay more to borrow more, plunging us deeper into debt.  Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on how the bond market is anticipating the situation.

"Senators Restart Talks as Default Looms" by JONATHAN WEISMAN, New York Times 10/15/2013

Excerpt

With the federal government on the brink of a default, a House Republican effort to end the shutdown and extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority collapsed Tuesday night as a major credit agency warned that the United States was on the verge of a costly ratings downgrade.

After the failure of the House Republican leadership to find enough support for its latest proposal to end the fiscal crisis, the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders immediately restarted negotiations to find a bipartisan path forward.  A spokesman for Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, said Mr. Reid was “optimistic that an agreement is within reach” with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

With so little time left, chances rose that a resolution would not be approved by Congress and sent to President Obama before Thursday, when the government is left with only its cash on hand to pay the nation’s bills.

"With G.O.P. Badly Divided, Boehner Is Left ‘Herding Cats’" by ASHLEY PARKER and JEREMY, New York Times 10/15/2013

Excerpt

After House Republicans began their closed-door meeting on Tuesday with an impromptu rendition of “Amazing Grace,” Speaker John A. Boehner stood up with what he hoped would be an equally inspiring message.

The Senate was trying to steamroll the House with a new plan to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling, leaving his team with only two options: “We can wait on the Senate for four days and accept whatever they give us,” he told them.  “Or we can go on offense and force their hand.”

It was yet another moment of decision for Mr. Boehner, who finally finds himself at the crossroads he has been marching toward for weeks: an imminent financial default on the one hand, and on the other an unyielding conservative rank and file that persists with the futile effort to take down President Obama’s health care law even if they also take down the speaker in the process.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, Reverberations Near and Far

As Republicans hold our economy and financial standing hostage to Tea Party (aka bullies) extremist demands......

Message to President Obama, Democrats, and the few Moderate Republicans that may still be left, DO NOT GIVE IN TO HOSTAGE TAKERS!

"Sens. Reid, McConnell both 'optimistic' shutdown deal can be reached" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 10/14/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that a deal on the shutdown would be reached by the end of the week.  However, it remained unclear how House Republicans would receive any Senate resolution.  Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.

"What might both parties give up to 'escape' shutdown impasse?" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 10/14/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Senate leaders showed hope that they might be headed towards an end to the government shutdown, while House remains uneasy about the path forward.  Robert Costa of the National Review joins Gwen Ifill to discuss why a short-term deal may be necessary and what concessions both sides may make to resolve the damaging impasse.

"Impacted U.S. communities pay price of shutdown" PBS Newshour 10/14/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  From local economies dependent on defense spending to tourist hot spots reeling from closures, communities across the nation are feeling the pinch of the government shutdown.  Judy Woodruff gets perspective from Cathy Lewis of WHRV in Hampton Roads, Va., Karen Kasler of Ohio Public Radio and Scott Shafer of KQED in San Francisco.

"Will 'artificially imposed crises' have consequences for U.S. economic standing?" PBS Newshour 10/14/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As lawmakers show signs of progress towards a deal to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, how are global markets responding?  Ray Suarez gets analysis from Zanny Min-ton Beddoes of The Economist on the effects that repeated political standoffs over may have on U.S. financial credibility.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, World View

"World Leaders Press the U.S. on Fiscal Crisis" by ANNIE LOWREY and NATHANIEL POPPER, New York Times 10/13/2013

Leaders at World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings on Sunday pleaded, warned and cajoled: the United States must raise its debt ceiling and reopen its government or risk “massive disruption the world over,” as Christine Lagarde, the fund’s managing director, put it.

The fiscal problems of the United States overshadowed the official agendas for the meetings, with representatives from dozens of countries — including two of Washington’s most important economic partners, Saudi Arabia and China — publicly expressing worries about what was happening on Capitol Hill and in the White House.

The leaders came to Washington to talk about the international recovery, Ms. Lagarde said in an interview on the NBC News program “Meet the Press.”  “Then they found out that the debt ceiling was the issue,” she added.  “They found out that the government had shut down and that there was no remedy in sight.”

“So it really completely transformed the meeting in the last few days,” Ms. Lagarde said.

With only three days left before a potential default, Senate leaders failed on Sunday to reach agreement on a plan to reopen the government and raise the debt limit.

Many leaders at the World Bank and I.M.F. meetings said they believed the impasse would be resolved before Thursday, when the government would be at severe risk of not having enough money to pay all its bills on any given day going forward.

But they pressed Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke — who were both at the I.M.F. meeting — on the issue, predicting that even a near-default would lead to higher borrowing costs and a slowdown of the global economy.

“This cannot happen, and this shall not happen,” Baudouin Prot, chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas, said at a meeting of the Institute of International Finance also being held in Washington.  “The consequences of this would be absolutely disastrous.”

Mr. Lew acknowledged the threat. “Our work begins at home,” he said.  “We recognize that the United States is the anchor of the international financial system.  With the deepest and most liquid financial markets, when risk rises, the flight to safety and to quality brings investors to U.S. markets.  But the United States cannot take this hard-earned reputation for granted.”

Participants at the meetings remained on edge, given the gravity of the threat.  Ms. Lagarde said “that lack of certainty, that lack of trust in the U.S. signature” would disrupt the world economy.

Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, issued his own urgent appeal.  “The fiscal standoff has to be resolved without delay,” he said in a statement released by the I.M.F.

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, painted a bleak picture of the days ahead if there is no resolution.

“As you get closer to it, the panic will set in and something will happen,” Mr. Dimon said at the international institute event.  “I don’t personally know when that problem starts.”

He added that JPMorgan had been “spending huge amounts of time and money and effort to be prepared.”

Many of the high-ranking officials present in Washington for the meetings made open appeals to Congress, with warnings coming from many of Washington’s allies and creditors.  Ms. Lagarde’s counterpart at the World Bank, the American physician Jim Yong Kim, said the world was “days away from a very dangerous moment.”

“The closer we get to the deadline the greater the impact will be for the developing world,” he said.

Fahad Almubarak, governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, said “urgent political agreements on budget and debt issues are necessary to preserve and, indeed, reinforce the modest recovery.”  And Yi Gang, an official with China’s central bank, said the fiscal uncertainties “must be addressed promptly.”

Concern over the impasse has already led to a slide in stocks — including the worst two-day dip in months.  American economic confidence has taken the worst hit since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.  And investors have dumped certain short-term Treasury debt because of fears that the Treasury might not pay them back on time.

Markets ended last week with a burst of optimism, after House Republicans took the first steps toward a compromise.  But that optimism faded over the weekend.  On Sunday, with negotiations in the Senate stalled, the value of the dollar was sliding.

In the Asia-Pacific region early Monday, stock markets moved lower in Singapore, Taiwan and Australia. Markets in Hong Kong and Japan were shut for holidays.

On Monday, all eyes in the American and European markets will be focused on the negotiations in Congress.  Big American companies will announce their quarterly results this week, normally a significant event for Wall Street.  But that is likely to attract little attention until the political negotiations are settled.

There has been much debate about how quickly problems will ripple through the economy before and after the deadline.  The Treasury Department will continue to take in money and might be able to pay its bills for as long as two weeks.  Some House Republicans have said that even if the Treasury misses some payments, it will have enough money to avoid defaulting on its debt, the most frightening outcome for financial markets.

The I.M.F., which lends to governments that have trouble finding financing on the sovereign debt markets, said it had been planning for any market disruptions.  Mr. Kim of the World Bank said that the United States’ flirtation with default in 2011 raised borrowing costs for many poor countries.

Much of the attention has been on the enormous outstanding pool of Treasury bonds and bills.  Short-term government bills are used to grease the wheels for many financial transactions and provide a benchmark from which other assets are priced.  If the value of that debt was suddenly drawn into question, markets could quickly seize up.

Money market funds, the popular mutual funds that own large amounts of Treasury bills, have been selling those that are scheduled to pay out in late October and November.

Anshu Jain, the co-chief executive of Deutsche Bank, said on the international institute panel that his executive team had been trying to make contingency plans in case of a default, but it had struggled to come up with measures that would significantly stem the losses.

“You don’t want to go into all of it,” he said.  “This would be a very rapidly spreading fatal disease.”

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, Ripple Effects

"Apartments sit vacant as shutdown delays move-in for San Francisco's homeless" PBS Newshour 10/9/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A new housing development in San Francisco is ready for its new tenants -- homeless individuals and families -- to move into apartments of their own.  But due to the government shutdown, units that are federally subsidized sit empty.  Mina Kim of KQED reports on how the standstill in Washington is affecting people in California.

"How federal agencies are able to fluctuate their furloughed workforce" PBS Newshour 10/9/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The government shutdown has touched hundreds of thousands of federal employees, but as the shutdown stretches on, the distinction between essential and non-essential has varied depending on agency and need.  Jeffrey Brown talks to Reid Wilson of The Washington Post and Gregory Korte of USA Today for a broad look at the impact.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, Hope in the U.S. Senate

"Some Senate Republicans Open to Clean Debt-Ceiling Plan" by Kathleen Hunter & Chris Strohm, Bloomberg 10/8/2012

Excerpt

Seven Senate Republicans said they are holding open the possibility of backing Democrats’ plan for a debt-ceiling increase without conditions, raising the prospect for sending a measure to the House before the deadline.

Democrats, who control 54 seats in the 100-member chamber, would need the support of at least six Republicans to pass a one-year increase in the nation’s $16.7 trillion debt ceiling that they plan to introduce today.  They are planning a test vote before the end of this week.

Some Senate Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, didn’t rule out backing the Democrats’ plan.  They said they must first see details, which would raise the debt limit before U.S. borrowing authority lapses Oct. 17.

“We’ve got a situation where you have a calendar running, you have people who are frustrated and upset, and so let’s figure it out,” Murkowski said in an interview at the Capitol yesterday.  “We shouldn’t be dismissing anything.”

That’s in contrast to House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, who has said any plan to lift the debt limit must be paired with cuts and other ways to curb U.S. spending.

One Republican senator -- Illinois’s Mark Kirk -- said he would support a so-called “clean” debt ceiling.

Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain, both of Arizona, left the door open to supporting Democrats’ plan.

Measure’s ‘Structure’

“It depends on the structure of it,” Flake said.

McCain said in an interview today that he wanted there to be negotiations on a debt-ceiling increase, after saying yesterday that his support for Democrats’ plan would depend on “what the dynamics are.”

“If there’s real reason to sit down and negotiate this out, then I’ll vote for anything,” he said today.

With nine days to go before borrowing authority lapses, Democrats and Republicans are locked in a partisan standoff that has brought a government shutdown into its second week.  President Barack Obama and Senate Democratic leaders have said they won’t negotiate on a debt-ceiling increase.

If the Democratic plan were to pass the Senate with bipartisan support, that would further pressure Boehner to pass a debt-ceiling bill in the House and avoid default.

Six Votes

That has put the spotlight on Senate Republicans, who could be crucial to a breakthrough in the stalemate, particularly if the necessary half dozen or more would be willing to join with Democrats to advance the measure.

“I will be listening today, and then I will decide what to do,” Alexander said.

Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee said he wants to see changes in Medicare and Social Security as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

“These reforms need to be a part of what we do here,” he said.

Other Republicans, including Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said they were inclined to push for a broader deficit-reduction agreement.

“What I’m focused on is working with Republicans and Democrats alike to come up with a way to deal with the underlying problem of overspending,” Portman said in an interview.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, GOP Still Holding Gun to Obama's Head

"Obama rejects House GOP call for special committee to work on ending impasse" PBS Newshour 10/8/2013

Excerpt

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  I will sit down and work with any one of any party.

KWAME HOLMAN (Newshour):  President Obama came to the White House Briefing Room this afternoon to rebut Republican criticism that he's refused to negotiate.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I have shown myself willing to go more than halfway in these conversations.  And if reasonable Republicans want to talk about these things again, I'm ready to head up to the Hill and try.  I'll even spring for dinner again.  But I'm not going to do it until the more extreme parts of the Republican Party stop forcing John Boehner to issue threats about our economy.

KWAME HOLMAN: In fact, the president said, he's even willing to discuss changes in the health care act after Republicans agree to reopen the government and raise the national debt ceiling.

He and House Speaker Boehner did get together by phone this morning, but reportedly mostly exchanged talking points.  Shortly after Mr. Obama spoke this afternoon, Boehner came before the cameras with his answer: The president's position he said, is unsustainable.

Hostage taker, "Give us what we want or else!"  Obama, "We will not pay ransom."

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises, No Negotiation With Hostage Takers

"House GOP plan unclear as Obama reiterates no negotiation under shutdown threat" PBS Newshour 10/7/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Barack Obama spoke at FEMA where he said he will not negotiate with House Republicans while the shutdown continues.  A senior presidential adviser suggested the White House might be open to a short-term debt limit increase.  Judy Woodruff talks to Robert Costa of the National Review about the continuing impasse.

"Default Threat Generates Fear Around Globe" by STEVEN ERLANGER, New York Times 10/7/2013

Excerpt

The bitter fiscal stalemate in Washington is producing nervous ripples from London to Bali, with increasing anxiety that the United States might actually default on a portion of its government debt, set off global financial troubles and undercut fragile economic recoveries in many countries.

Five years after the financial crisis in the United States helped spread a deep global recession, policy makers around the world again fear collateral damage, this time with their nations becoming victims not of Wall Street’s excesses but of a political system in Washington that to many foreign eyes no longer seems to be able to function efficiently.

There is plenty of evidence that the United States remains engaged globally on many levels, with the dual commando raids on targets in Africa this weekend the most recent.  But the partial shutdown of the United States government has shown again that Washington’s problems extend beyond American borders.  Effectively grounded by the political crisis at home, President Obama was absent from a summit meeting of Pacific Rim leaders in Indonesia on Monday, giving China greater opportunity to highlight its role in the region.

One of the attendees, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, provided a possibly sardonic statement of sympathy for Mr. Obama.  “We see what is happening in U.S. domestic politics and this is not an easy situation,” Mr. Putin said, adding, “If I was in his situation, I would not come, either.”

In Europe, the effort to reach a big new trade accord with the United States is at a standstill, with many government agencies in Washington operating with skeletal staffs.  And as worrisome as that kind of delay is in Europe, it is only a precursor to the almost certain economic fallout if the United States does not raise the debt limit and defaults for the first time on government securities.

Foreigners often complain, usually with some forbearance, that the United States is so powerful that its president is in some important sense their president, too. In their case, however, they lack the opportunity to cast a vote.

There is not much that any foreigner can do about Mr. Obama’s confrontation with the House speaker, John A. Boehner, who said Sunday that his Republican members would not accept a clean bill — one with no conditions — that would raise the American debt limit before the government hits its borrowing limit and risks technical default as soon as next week.  At the same time, Mr. Boehner has told colleagues privately that he would avert a default, but whether he actually has the ability to do so remains uncertain.

“The international community is asking, ‘Does the U.S. still have the will to act?’ ” said Xenia Dormandy, a senior fellow at London’s Chatham House and a former American official in the State Department and the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

“Both the Syria vote and the current budget crisis are nerve-racking for the world,” she said, referring to Mr. Obama’s sudden decision to ask Congress to authorize a strike on Syria and then changing his mind.

Alain Frachon, a columnist and former Washington correspondent for the French newspaper Le Monde, said, “Washington is looking more like the Italian political system, with its permanent crises, and not a presidential system, as before.”

OPINION - Brooks and Dionne 10/4/2013

"Brooks and Dionne:  Budget battle is 'debate with no substance'" PBS Newshour 10/4/2013

Excerpts

SUMMARY:  New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's top political news, including the lack of progress being made to end the government shutdown, the upcoming debt ceiling fight and how recent dysfunction is set to amplify the nation's poor opinion of Congress.
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DAVID BROOKS:  I assume, by the time we die, there will be a (shutdown) resolution.

So, we must be closer, but it's really not too evident.  I guess I would say one thing is happening on the Republican side.  I think there's a widespread recognition from everybody who's not in Ted Cruz's own personal household that this was a very dumb strategy, that if you walk into a confrontation with the president, there should be some possibility of success.

And they walked in really with zero possibility of success.  Focusing on Obamacare, which was never going to be defunded, merely distracted from the actual of Obamacare.  It distracted from the issues upon which Republicans are strongest.  And so it was an incredibly dumb, ham-fisted policy.

And I think that awareness has spread throughout the Senate, where I gather there's been some sharp challenges to Ted Cruz from some of his colleagues.  It's certainly spread among the Republican elder class, the people around town who are -- who want the Republican Party to do well.

And so there's been a lot -- a little more rethinking and a little more opposition, I would say, to some of the Tea Party, Ted Cruz types, which, hopefully, in my view, will build and offer some more sensible alternative.
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E.J. DIONNE:  .... the thing that really strikes me, I was in the White House this week and talked to a number of top aides to President Obama, and I have never seen the administration be so resolute in saying, we cannot make any concessions on the issue of the shutdown or on the debt ceiling.  We are happy to negotiate after those are settled.

Obama is famous for liking to negotiate.  Some of us are actually somewhat critical of him for being too eager to negotiate, but this time, they're saying there is a principle here.  It's a constitutional monstrosity to use these threats to try to get something done, in this case repealing the Affordable Care Act, when the president won't sign it and they don't have a majority in the Senate.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Constitutional monstrosity, David?  Is that what it would be?

DAVID BROOKS:  Yes, I mean, listen, this has become such a stupid event, because we're not even arguing about the size of the government or the actual philosophical divide.  We're arguing about process, about who will talk to who and who's willing to negotiate more and who's willing to negotiate less.

So, I think it strikes most people, as it strikes me, as a debate with no substance to it, and as a debate about dysfunction in which Washington displays its dysfunction.  Now, I concede that most of the blame probably has to go to the Republicans.

But I do not think Barack Obama's off the hook here entirely.  I do think, overall, it has been a long-running problem for this administration that they didn't find a way to isolate the Tea Party and work with the other Republicans to create a governing majority, and that still holds.

Now they're going to try to do it, and I hope they do.  Maybe they can carry it over into immigration and other things.  But it's been a problem for the administration, unable to get -- to separate the small rump group from the rest of the Republicans, who they could have worked with.
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E.J. DIONNE:  He (Boehner) gave some signals that he would never allow us to default, he would somehow pass the debt ceiling, and yet today he was out there talking about spending, which had nothing to do with Obamacare, saying something must be done about this.  I think that it's -- somehow, he's got to find a way to end this, because it's hurting Washington generally, but it's clearly hurting Republicans more.

But I think, if he doesn't end it, some of the Republicans who come from districts like here in Virginia, where we're sitting, where a lot of federal workers live, in states like New York and Pennsylvania, where they said, this isn't the kind of Republicanism we believe in, and I think they may have to create some of the pressure to get off this.
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E.J. DIONNE:  But one good thing could come out of this.  I think the Tea Party is past its high tide.  I think there is a slowly building revolt within Republican ranks against this kind of politics, which is not about governing.  It's about stopping stuff.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Less than 30 seconds.  Do you agree with that?

DAVID BROOKS:  I do.  I do.

I think it's a rump that had its moment.  On the other hand, it does have institutions, it has a donor base, and it has aggression.  Ted Cruz, those Republicans, the Heritage Action groups, they go after other Republicans.  There's an aggressiveness there that is not matched by any other part of the party.  And somebody has to stand up and balance it.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises Updates

"Obama and Boehner escalate war of words" PBS Newshour 10/5/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The Wall Street Journal’s Janet Hook talks with Hari Sreenivasan about the increasingly contentious war of words between President Obama and Speaker Boehner.  Hooks says that the unanimous vote on federal worker pay relieves pressure on Congress only briefly, as the debt ceiling deadline looms.

"Obama reacts to continued government shutdown" PBS Newshour 10/5/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Julie Pace, White House Correspondent for the Associated Press got an exclusive interview with President Obama on Friday, four days into the partial government shutdown.  Pace shared the President's comments on the shutdown and the impending debt ceiling with Hari Sreenivasan.

MY MESSAGE:  Mr. President, the U.S. should NOT give in to hostage takers.  Please do not give in to the Tea Party.


"Shutdown's seventh day begins with political sniping" by Christina Bellantoni and Katelyn Polantz, PBS Newshour 10/7/2013

Excerpt

"He knows what my phone number is, all he has to do is call."

That was House Speaker John Boehner appearing on ABC's "This Week," clearly frustrated with President Barack Obama.

Boehner on Sunday stressed he just needs a "simple conversation" with the president, something that hasn't been happening beyond a brief and unfruitful meeting with congressional leaders at the White House last week.

"The American people expect in Washington when we have a crisis like this, that the leaders will sit down and have a conversation.  And I told my members the other day that there may be a back room somewhere, but there's nobody in it," Boehner said.

The Ohio Republican's interview came on the same weekend the Associated Press released its wide-ranging interview with the president.

Mr. Obama told Julie Pace what he's been saying for several days -- that he's only willing to negotiate with Republicans on health care and spending if Boehner holds a vote on a politics- and policy-free measure to fund the government.

Boehner also blasted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as inflexible.  "That's what he's saying, complete surrender and then we'll talk to you," Boehner said.

A Reid spokesman responded in a Monday statement that Boehner says "things that fly in the face of the facts or stand at odds with his past actions."

"Americans across the country are suffering because Speaker Boehner refuses to come to grips with reality," Reid communications director Adam Jentleson's statement read.  "Today, Speaker Boehner should stop the games and let the House vote on the Senate's clean CR so that the entire federal government can re-open within twenty-four hours."

The hardened lines signal there isn't likely to be any resolution to the standoff any time soon.  Without a legislative path forward, what we see play out instead is the political battle.

On Monday as the shutdown stretched into its second week, the president's Organizing for Action re-election campaign spinoff released what officials say will be a "national cable" television ad bemoaning an "irresponsible" and "reckless" government shutdown.

The spot features GOP members of Congress appearing on television last week, including Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee proclaiming, "People are probably going to realize they can live with a lot less government."

"The government shutdown is hurting veterans, seniors and our kids," a female narrator says.  "Now tea party Republicans are threatening an economic shutdown, refusing to pay our nation's bills, endangering American jobs."

It closes with a photo of House Republican leaders and an ask:  "Tell them to stand up to the tea party."

COMMENT:  "That's what he's saying, complete surrender and then we'll talk to you," Boehner said.  NO Mr. Boehner, it is YOU and the Tea Party that is saying "surrender" to your demands.

The U.S. Debt Ceiling should be ONLY about that, with no attachments.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises Day 3

"'We have an obligation to govern':  Republican Rep. Dent on ending the showdown" PBS Newshour 10/3/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  On the third day of the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said his party would only be open to legislative negotiation once the House GOP passes a clean funding bill.  Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.  Gwen Ifill talks to Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., about his stance on ending the stalemate.

"Defaulting on U.S bond obligations could cause 'mother of all financial crises'" PBS Newshour 10/3/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The Treasury Department warned in a report that if the government defaults on its obligations later in October, the economic impact could be widespread and even provoke another financial crisis.  Annie Lowrey of The New York Times joins Judy Woodruff to explain the debt ceiling and potential consequences.

And IF Boehner can bypass the Tea Party members.....

"Boehner Pledges to Avoid Default, Republicans Say" by ASHLEY PARKER and ANNIE LOWREY, New York Times 10/3/2013

Excerpt

Speaker John A. Boehner has privately told Republican lawmakers anxious about fallout from the government shutdown that he would not allow a potentially more crippling federal default as the atmosphere on Capitol Hill turned increasingly tense on Thursday.

Mr. Boehner’s comments, recounted by multiple lawmakers, that he would use a combination of Republican and Democratic votes to increase the federal debt limit if necessary appeared aimed at reassuring his colleagues — and nervous financial markets — that he did not intend to let the economic crisis spiral further out of control.

They came even though he has so far refused to allow a vote on a Senate budget measure to end the shutdown that many believe could pass with bipartisan backing.  They also reflect Mr. Boehner’s view that a default would have widespread and long-term economic consequences while the shutdown, though disruptive, had more limited impact.

With the mood in Congress already unsettled by the bitter sparring over the fiscal standoff, the Capitol was shaken anew Thursday afternoon when a high-speed chase beginning near the White House ended near the Senate office complex with Capitol Police shooting the driver to death.

The sound of gunfire outside the Capitol forced at least five senators in the vicinity to take cover on their stomachs and led to a temporary lockdown of members of Congress and their staffs.  The House and Senate adjourned for the day shortly after the incident as the shutdown extended into a third day.

Along with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, Mr. Boehner has long dismissed the idea that Congress would not act to prevent a damaging default, and President Obama on Thursday called a default “the height of irresponsibility.”  But the failure of the House and Senate to reach a deal ahead of the shutdown has raised questions of whether Republicans could be persuaded to join in raising the debt limit before the Treasury Department runs out of money about the middle of October.

POLITICS - The U.S. Financial Hostage Crises

"President Obama summons congressional leaders to discuss shutdown stalemate" PBS Newshour 10/2/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  President Barack Obama called leaders of the House and Senate to the White House to discuss the stalemate keeping the government shutdown.  House GOP members forged ahead with various bills to re-open parts of the government, but Democrats dismissed that approach.  Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.

"How long before shutdown has major impact on the economy, private sector?" PBS Newshour 10/2/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  After day two of the government shutdown, some industries, like tourism, have already taken a hit.  How might the effects spill over into other sectors of the economy and the markets?  Judy Woodruff looks to Diane Swonk of Mesirow Financial and Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics for analysis and predictions.
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DIANE SWONK, Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc.: (on shutdown)  And, yes, we also see these workers, census workers are all across the country; 85 percent of federal workers workout side of Washington, D.C., so as bad as it is in Washington, these are workers that vote all across the country, which, believe me it's having an impact, like I mentioned, the 4,000 workers in Kentucky.  We have got workers here in Illinois that clearly aren't working at this stage of the game.  The roads are not as clogged and all the retailers that get the fallout.

But also the auto industry is very concerned.  I have gotten several calls from Detroit already, concerned about the uncertainty created by this, people not knowing what this means.  And as the events continue to fall out as we approach the debt ceiling as well, that can really rock financial markets and that causes hesitation.  Hesitation in an economy that's already weak is our greatest enemy.

When consumers are uncertain, they don't buy big-ticket items or luxury items.  They don't spend on that extra meal out or going out to the movies.  On the flip side of it, we also see more importantly businesses not willing to pull the trigger and hire, which is something that Mark was talking about.  We have already seen the largest hiring in the sort of leisure and hospitality industries, but you are not going to see much of that at all.  That pullback right as we enter into the holiday season I think is really critical.
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MARK ZANDI, Moody's Analytics:  Well, it's everybody then, because if we hit the debt limit, what that means is that the Treasury can only pay the bills for which it has enough cash.  So it won't have enough cash to pay all the bills and there are a lot of bills.

Now, they're going to make their payments to the debt holders, the people who own the Treasury bonds.  But that's going to leave less for everyone else.  And so that means Medicare-Medicaid recipients, if they -- if we don't settle this by November 1, it means Social Security recipients won't get their check on time.