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The Obama administration dug in Sunday on its vow to reject proposed spending cuts by congressional Republicans in upcoming budget talks, but declined to say whether the president would veto their proposals or allow a government shutdown. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told “Fox News Sunday” that President Obama will neither sign government funding bills that slash domestic spending nor negotiate with Republicans over spending cuts to reduce the federal debt limit. He also said the president was not going to accept a budget in which domestic spending is further cut to soften the blow to Defense spending.

Obama: "...the economy is far stronger now than it was four and a half years ago." ...as long as one ignores the reality of the following chart... We've seen macro "Hope" and micro "Reality", but for the man in the street, it would appear from the chart above that the trajectory for 'recovery' green shoots is decidedly down and getting worse... even as the President tells the American public they are so much better off... (h/t @Not_Jim_Cramer)

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday warned Congress against manufacturing a crisis over federal spending in the months ahead, as looming deadlines set the stage for a repeat of the political deadlock which two years ago triggered worldwide financial market turmoil. "We have already done a lot of deficit reduction," he said in an interview on NBC. "We need to get the debt limit extended in a way that doesn't create a crisis," Lew said.

Video: Does the number $16.7 trillion ring a bell? It's the debt ceiling. It's the line in the sand that must not be crossed. And to protect that line we have a Republican Congress. But that line has been crossed and not a peep out of Congress or the major news media. Obama's unelected bureaucrat, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, just unilaterally hiked the national debt of the United States another $51 billion dollars. And how did he do it? Simple. He just did it. No Senate. No Congress. No problem. He simply called it a "standard set of extraordinary measures"...

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Friday urged congressional leaders to raise the debt limit and insisted that the White House is not going to negotiate over the increase because lawmakers have "no choice." "We will not negotiate over the debt limit," Lew wrote. "The creditworthiness of the United States is non-negotiable. The question of whether the country must pay obligations it has already incurred is not open to debate." Lew said that while President Obama is willing to discuss plans to reduce the nation's deficit with Congress, those talks must be kept separate from any effort to raise the nation's...

No Economic Growth on Horizon, Just Massive Obama Tax IncreasesJuly 7, 2010 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Here's Obama. Another speech on the economy today at the White House. The president talking about the economy and jobs. It's nothing new. We've heard it since 2008. OBAMA: Growth won't come from an economy where prosperity is based on fleeting bubbles of consumption, of debt. You can't rely on paper gains. We've seen where that led us and we're not going back. If we want to once again approach full employment and fuel real economic growth, then we need an end to the policies...

Here's some pressure for lawmakers: If they don't reach agreement on extending soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts, nearly all their constituents back home will get big tax increases. A typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would have to pay $2,900 more in taxes in 2011, according to a new analysis by Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax consulting firm. The same family making $100,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $4,500. Wealthier families face even bigger tax hikes. A family of four making $500,000 a year would pay $10,800 more in taxes. The same...