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Democrats' debt-ceiling bill failed to clear a key Senate hurdle Sunday afternoon, putting the onus on bipartisan negotiators to come up with an alternative plan with just two days to go until the Treasury runs out of ways to pay all of America's bills. The vote on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's plan was expected to fail. Sixty votes were required to advance the proposal, and it fell far short in a 50-49 roll call. The focus now turns almost exclusively to the latest round of talks being conducted among White House officials and Senate leaders. After disagreeing about the...

'MUST WATCH' - by anyone who wants to know the real thing regarding this Debt Crisis Link here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_68GjR6V6zI#at=260

ABC reports this morning that Congressional leaders have already begun briefing their caucuses on the eleventh-hour deal that emerged from the White House last night. Jonathan Karl notes that the deal is contingent on getting enough support from each House caucus to form a majority, and in the Senate to avoid a filibuster. We’ll come back to that in a moment, but Karl also updates the story on the deal. The topline numbers are apparently $2.4 trillion in matching spending cuts and debt-ceiling raises instead of $2.8 trillion, but now both are split into two parts: The current framework would...

That thoughtful observer of the passing parade, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in on the "debt ceiling" negotiations the other day: "What we're trying to do is save the world from the Republican budget. We're trying to save life on this planet as we know it today." It's always good to have things explained in terms we simpletons can understand. After a while, all the stuff about debt-to-GDP ratio and CBO alternative baseline scenarios starts to give you a bit of a headache, so we should be grateful to the House Minority Leader for putting it in layman's terms: What's at stake...

McConnell Sees Deal “Very Close”; Focus Is on Triggers for Cuts By MCHAEL D. SHEAR AND MATTHEW L. WALD WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Sunday morning that he was “very close” to recommending to his members that they sign on to a debt deal with President Obama and the Democrats. Speaking on the CNN program “State of the Union,” Mr. McConnell said the emerging deal included as much as $3 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years, with much of that decided later this year by a joint congressional committee. “What conservatives want...

Very late on Saturday, multiple reports sketched out the framework of a debt limit compromise President Obama has struck with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). As noted here, the issue under contention was the design of a so-called "trigger," -- a penalty written into the bill meant to encourage Congress to pass further bipartisan deficit reduction legislation, authored by a new Special Committee, later this year. Here's what they've reportedly come up with, pending approval from Congressional Democrats and Republicans. From ABC News, the key detail: "The special committee must make recommendations by late November (before Congress' Thanksgiving recess)....

12:04pm | Reid vote still scheduled for 1pm. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will still vote on his plan to raise the debt limit today. Reid reading from AP report citing soldiers concerned about supporting their families if debt limit isn't raised. Reid says he and Obama are "hopeful" that a deal is near. "We are cautiously optimistic," adding serious issues remain to be resolved in the next few hours. "There's no agreement that has been made, but we're optimistic one can be reached." Reid thanks McConnell for being a "cheerleader" on this compromise. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/live-coverage-debt-ceiling-sunday-negotiations-2011-7#ixzz1ThTEm13A

Late Saturday night, ABC News and National Journal reported that the outline of a deal had been reached by congressional leaders and the White House. ABC's Jonathan Karl reports that "Democratic and Republican Congressional sources involved in the negotiations" tell him that these are the key elements of the deal: •A debt ceiling increase of up to $2.1 to $2.4 trillion (depending on the size of the spending cuts agreed to in the final deal). •They have now agreed to spending cuts of roughly $1.2 trillion over 10 years. •The formation of a special Congressional committee to recommend further deficit...

These debt deals keep getting worse and worse. Basically Boehner is signing up for either large tax increases or large defense cuts. Also he has caved on extending through the election. If he was going to fold like this at the last minute, he should have just saved us the trouble at the beginning. Reid and the Dems have ran circles around these guys. They were smart enough to know that they could say whatever to look like they were compromising, then sweep in at the last minute to get what they want. It's Lucy and the football. You candecide...

The White House and Republican leaders are closing in on a debt ceiling deal giving President Barack Obama greater certainty in managing the Treasury’s borrowing needs while making a joint commitment to major deficit reductions without any explicit concessions by the GOP on new tax revenues. Both sides stress that nothing is yet final, but the contours suggest a more practical approach by Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, to achieve many of the party’s goals without pushing Obama and the nation into default. Quoting a figure of $3 trillion, McConnell confirmed Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of...

After proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Reid bill and having it struck down, Sen. Rand Paul sat down with Don Lemon to explain what was happening on the floor and what compromises he was up for making. Lemon was in a curt mood, it seems, as weeks have gone by and the debt deadline looms with little to no visible progress occurring. The two had a contentious exchange as Sen. Paul tried to explain he did have the will to compromise when Lemon questioned what it would take.

ABC News has learned that Republicans and the White House have struck a tenative deal to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline. It's not done yet, but here is the framework of the tentative deal they have worked out, according to a source familiar with the negotiations:

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies... Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here." Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."...

10:56am | Good Saturday morning. The House and Senate will convene at 1pm today. The House will likely go out of session after a vote on the Reid plan to raise the debt limit, while the Senate will stick around until 1 am Sunday to vote to end debate on the plan. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/live-coverage-congressional-debt-ceiling-showdown-2011-7#ixzz1TbPkr4wi