Free Republic

The bipartisan deal to reopen the government and temporarily lift the debt ceiling includes one small Obamacare element—a provision that says people’s incomes must be verified before they can get Obamacare subsidies to help pay their insurance premiums. But this was not a concession to Republicans, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday. “It’s, you know, it is, frankly, a bit of a fig leaf, which we were happy to give, but that was not a negotiation. That was not what Ted Cruz and the others started to demand that we give them.” …

As part of the deal to end the government shutdown and extend the debt limit, the House and Senate have agreed to begin long-stalled budget negotiations. The conferees planned to meet Thursday morning for breakfast—to “break the ice,” the Associated Press reported. Once the actual talks get underway, President Obama will insist that tax hikes be part of the solution. “The president has insisted that in the budget negotiations that he’s been calling for all year, everything has to be on the table. And that will be his position going forward,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday....

President Barack Obama used his Saturday radio address to press for an end to “this Republican shutdown” and for an increase in the debt limit. “It wouldn’t be wise,” he said, “to just kick the debt-ceiling can down the road for a couple months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season. Because damage to America’s sterling credit rating wouldn’t just cause global markets to go haywire; it would become more expensive for everyone in America to borrow money. Students paying for college. Newlyweds buying a home. It would amount to a...

President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve vice chair Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the nation’s central bank, the White House said Tuesday. Yellen would be the first woman to head the powerful Fed, taking over at a pivotal time for the economy and the banking industry. … Yellen emerged as the leading candidate after Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury secretary whom Obama was thought to favor, withdrew from consideration last month in the face of rising opposition. Yellen, 67, would likely continue steering Fed policy in the same direction as Bernanke. A close ally of...

Senate Democrats say they’ll advance a bill giving President Barack Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling unless two-thirds of Congress disapproves, according to a Senate Democratic aide. The issue of increasing the borrowing limit and avoiding an unprecedented default is fast becoming a central focus in Washington—and comes as ordinary Americans say they’re deeply dismayed with the week-old government shutdown, and are finding blame with both Republicans and Democrats. “It looks like there is more than enough blame to go around and both parties are being hurt by the shutdown,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. …

Is it a glimmer of hope, or more rhetoric as the deadline for possible government default gets closer? After weeks of near silence without any hint of a potential compromise between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over raising the nation’s debt ceiling, the White House may be offering some conciliatory language that could help lead to a deal to prevent a potential default on October 17. As recently as Friday, White House officials declined to specify any demand for the length of a deal to increase the nation’s debt ceiling. Then on Monday, a White House official said it...

Although politicians and the press have generally referred to what has been happening in the federal government since Tuesday, Oct. 1 as in a “shutdown” or “partial shutdown,” that did not prevent the U.S. Treasury from being open for business on Thursday—the third day of the “shutdown” and issuing $106.291 billion in new debt, according to the Daily Treasury Statement released at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. … Even though the net debt held by the public declined by $5.039 billion in Thursday, and the cash reserved declined by $33.080 billion, according to the Daily Treasury Statement, the same statement said...

The same day that the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee announced last week that the Fed would continue to buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and $45 billion in U.S. Treasury securities per month, the Fed also released its latest weekly accounting sheet indicating that it had already accumulated more Treasuries and MBS than the total value of the publicly held U.S. government debt amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington though Bill Clinton. Since the beginning of September 2008, in fact, the Fed’s ownership of Treasury securities and MBS has increased sevenfold. As of the close...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: If the world sees America not paying its bills, then they will not buy debt, Treasury bills from the United States, or if they do, they'll do it at much higher interest rates. That means somebody wanting to buy an F-150 will have to pay much higher interest rates eventually, which means you will sell less cars. That’s just one example of how profoundly destructive this could be. This is not some abstract thing. And this is important: Raising the debt ceiling is not the same as approving more spending, any more than making your monthly payment adds...

Although it hasn't made much news, what with the world missing a Pope, the Senate missing an on-the-floor bathroom, Venezuela missing a President, and President Hamid Karzai missing a press conference with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel; but President Barack Obama has missed the deadline for producing a budget document for the United States. It's not as if the whole government spending thing hasn't been a big deal in Washington. You might have been following along as Republicans and Democrats have been not just disagreeing with one another about how to cut the deficit from its present $16.5 trillion, but they...

The debate over reform of Social Security and Medicare is taking place in a vacuum, without adequate consideration of fundamental facts. These facts include the following: Two-thirds of Americans who are over the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit of $15,168.36 for at least half of their income. (snip) So why don’t we talk about raising or eliminating the cap – a measure that has strong popular, though not elite, support? When asked by the National Academy of Social Insurance whether Social Security taxes for better-off Americans should be increased, 71 percent of Republicans and...

[SNIP] So here's the truth about the "generational theft" theme: It's wrong on the numbers and wrong on the implications. Let's start with that 7-to-1 spending ratio on seniors versus children. Among the flaws in the calculation is that the vast majority of government dollars spent on children comes from state and local governments, which pay most of the cost of education. On a per capita basis, state and local spending on kids swamps the federal government's spending 8 to 1. Moreover, there are twice as many children 18 and under as seniors 65 and over (this 2008 figure also...

Will President Obama’s sequester interrupt government services you depend on? The media runs alarmist stories about how average Americans will suffer if Uncle Sam has to pass up a fourth sticky bun for breakfast. Politicians often panic the public to keep the money flowing. Washington is warning of three-hour delays at airports. Remember: Democrats insisted on requiring airport security screeners to be federal employees. So now you must support Democratic spending plans or else. Since 2008, federal spending has increased by $800 billion per year. The looming sequester will shave off $100 billion per year. Washington will still be spending...

    As you know, the Aspen photo embargo has been quite successful. The fact that you haven’t seen even so much as a cellphone shot indicates the overall good breeding, manners and political affiliation of the type of people who ski Aspen. That, and the fact Lady M had the SS shut down one of the mountains on Buttermilk to the riffraff in order to assure her…uh, a wide berth on the way down. It’s no biggie: the people in Washington get used to it, I’m sure the skiers here will too. And, as we have in the past,...

Senate Democratic leaders unveiled a $110 billion sequester-replacement bill at a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday that would replace $85 billion in automatic spending cuts set to hit March 1. The Senate Democratic package is split evenly between spending cuts and provisions raising new tax revenues, according to a Democratic source. It would raise nearly $54 billion in taxes by implementing the Buffett Rule, setting a minimum effective tax rate for wealthy individuals and families. It would raise additional revenues by changing the tax treatment of oil extraction from oil sands. ....snip.... On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified that...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) urged her colleagues to reach a compromise to prevent spending cuts through sequestration, arguing that government programs are already as lean as they can be. "We're at the bone almost, and sequester, that is across-the-board cuts, will literally destroy us and put us in a recession," she said on the House floor Wednesday. She called on Republicans to meet Democrats at the negotiating table and rejected the idea that President Obama delivered a partisan State of the Union address Tuesday night. "May I ask them to take some cotton out of their ears, because in...

Peter Schiff is a regular guest on FSN. He was way ahead of all the so-called experts, predicting the real estate crash at a time when Wall Street was still raking in the profits. We ran into him in the Bahamas at the Global Economic Summit. While others believe that country can still be saved, Peter believes that only a currency collapse, along with a complete cessation of easy credit is the only thing that can bring America to its senses. While there are certainly dangers from such an approach, it may be the only way to get Americans to...

WASHINGTON: Rarely have such pretty slides told such an ugly story. While Army Chief of Staff Ray Odierno tries to talk up "The Force of Tomorrow," Army briefing documents obtained today by AOL Defense lay out the near-term impact of sequestration, the Continuing Resolution, and unresolved overseas contingency operations needs: an enormous $18 billion shortfall for the service that will be borne almost entirely by federal workers and military readiness. You can see the slides by clicking "download this document" (up and to the left) and read the detailed talking points here, but the highlights are harrowing enough: Training:...

The House Republicans, in serious trouble with public opinion as they blinked facing the "fiscal cliff" over New Year's, seem suddenly to be playing a more successful game -- or rather, games -- an inside game and an outside game. The inside game can be described by the Washington phrase "regular order." What that means in ordinary American English is that you proceed according to the rules. Bills are written in subcommittee and committee and then go to the floor. When the House and Senate pass different versions -- likely when Republicans control the House and Democrats have a majority...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is sharing his regrets about his "fiscal-cliff" strategy, less than a month after the House bitterly swallowed a last-minute deal hatched in the Senate. In a private speech to the Ripon Society on Tuesday, Boehner said that he should have taken a different course after the November election by immediately demanding that the Senate produce a bill to avert the worst parts of a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that were due to hit on Jan. 1. Instead, Boehner delivered a formal speech at the Capitol on the day after President Obama won a...