Boehner to House: Pass Deal by Wednesday

But today's the absolute last one—right?

(NEWSER) - Today is, supposedly, the absolute last day for debt limit legislation to be introduced in the House if the US wants to avoid defaulting on Aug. 2. As we wait to see if lawmakers make the deadline, Uri Friedman, writing in in the Atlantic Wire, looks at all the deadlines they've missed so far:

1. May 16: Timothy Geithner originally named this as the date the US would risk default, but when it passed without Congress raising the debt ceiling, the Treasury shuffled some clamshells to postpone the default date to Aug. 2—at which point "the borrowing authority of the United States will be exhausted."
2. June 31: On June 1, John Boehner said that a deal must be made in the next month in order to avoid "rattling investors."

Boehner believes proposal must hit House today

(NEWSER) - We may very well be at zero hour: John Boehner has privately told Republicans that in order to get a debt ceiling measure signed by President Obama by the Aug. 2 deadline, it must be introduced in the House today. But despite the increasing likeliness of a US default, Politico reports that hope for a bipartisan deal has disintegrated. After meeting with the president and Nancy Pelosi last night, Harry Reid accused Boehner of taking a "my-way-or-the-highway approach," and reiterated the fact that his two-part plan —or any short-term plan—is "a non-starter in the Senate and with the president." Politico also notes that Obama, after three weeks of being highly visible, was on the sidelines during this weekend's developments, a potentially risky move this late in the game. More»

Reports cite $3T deal with tax reform, entitlement changes

(NEWSER) - President Obama and John Boehner are reportedly back at the bargaining table, and they could be near a deal to cut the deficit and raise the debt ceiling. The rumored $3 trillion agreement between the administration and top Republicans could include entitlement changes and set plans for tax reform, reports Politico . Stories are conflicting, however. John Boehner has labeled “false” a New York Times piece suggesting a “major budget deal” is approaching—but other insiders say the administration told them as much late yesterday. More»

'Dysfunctional' party is pointing the nation toward something like Armageddon

(NEWSER) - One thing we’ve learned from the debt ceiling debate: Republicans are no longer behaving rationally. They’ve been revealed as a “dysfunctional” party “whose conservative wing is behaving less like a mainstream electoral force than an ultra-left sect being advised by a petulant 2-year-old,” writes Gary Younge in the Guardian . “It is simply not economically feasible to cut the US deficit without raising taxes.” More»

But he'd better watch out for Eric Cantor

(NEWSER) - President Obama has “called Republicans’ bluff on the debt,” writes EJ Dionne in the Washington Post . With a little help from Eric Cantor, Obama has shown that Republicans’ top goal has nothing to do with the deficit—instead, they want to maintain low taxes on corporations and the rich. “Even the most resolutely centrist and cautious have been forced to concede this essential truth of American politics,” writes Dionne. Now, Obama “occupies the high ground in the debt-ceiling debate.” But there's peril ahead. More»