Tick, tick. August 2nd is the Debt Limit Armageddon. Or Not.

This is probably good news, and the stock markets should begin a recovery on Monday.

This deal is worse than no deal at all. Obama should have taken the 14th-Amendment option, ignored the debt limit, and spend the money that Congress had already authorized him to spend.

Now we're looking at a double-dip recession.

Washington, D.C.– Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today released the following statement on the emerging debt deal:

“This deal trades peoples’ livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it. Progressives have been organizing for months to oppose any scheme that cuts Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, and it now seems clear that even these bedrock pillars of the American success story are on the chopping block. Even if this deal were not as bad as it is, this would be enough for me to fight against its passage.

This deal does not even attempt to strike a balance between more cuts for the working people of America and a fairer contribution from millionaires and corporations. The very wealthy will continue to receive taxpayer handouts, and corporations will keep their expensive federal giveaways. Meanwhile, millions of families unfairly lose more in this deal than they have already lost. I will not be a part of it.

Republicans have succeeded in imposing their vision of a country without real economic hope. Their message has no public appeal, and Democrats have had every opportunity to stand firm in the face of their irrational demands. Progressives have been rallying support for the successful government programs that have meant health and economic security to generations of our people. Today we, and everyone we have worked to speak for and fight for, were thrown under the bus. We have made our bottom line clear for months: a final deal must strike a balance between cuts and revenue, and must not put all the burden on the working people of this country. This deal fails those tests and many more.

The Democratic Party, no less than the Republican Party, is at a very serious crossroads at this moment. For decades Democrats have stood for a capable, meaningful government – a government that works for the people, not just the powerful, and that represents everyone fairly and equally. This deal weakens the Democratic Party as badly as it weakens the country. We have given much and received nothing in return. The lesson today is that Republicans can hold their breath long enough to get what they want. While I believe the country will not reward them for this in the long run, the damage has already been done.

A clean debt ceiling vote was the obvious way out of this, and many House Democrats have been saying so. Had that vote failed, the president should have exercised his Fourteenth Amendment responsibilities and ended this manufactured crisis.

This deal is a cure as bad as the disease. I reject it, and the American people reject it. The only thing left to do now is repair the damage as soon as possible.”

I'm not so sure that the American people rejects it. We won't know until the next election, because many Americans have voiced support for more cuts in government spending

The fundraising number for the potential GOP candidates for 2012 tell quite a different story, hawk

What group has the lowest public approval?

Congressional Republicans.

Much, much, lower than Obama's score - even as his dropped a few points during the past several days.

but I see the liberals gaining strength through this fiasco.

If I'm the one who's delusional, why is it that congress' approval rating is 19%

The Caucus - The Politics and Government blog of The New York Times
July 31, 2011, 10:16 pm
2012 G.O.P. Candidates React to Debt Deal
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

The Republican candidates for president have begun weighing in on the debt deal reached in Washington.

In the moments immediately after the deal was announced by legislative leaders and President Obama, the sound from the campaign trail was largely one of crickets.

But now, the reaction is arriving.

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota responded quickly with a statement condemning the deal.

“Mr. President, I’m not sure what voice you’re listening to, but I can assure you that the voice of the American people wasn't the ‘voice that compelled Washington to act.’ It was you that got us into this mess, and it was you who wanted a $2.4 trillion dollar blank check to get you through the election,” she said in a statement distributed by her campaign.

Mrs. Bachmann had repeatedly said she will not vote to increase the nation’s debt limit under any circumstance, and she repeated that in her statement.

“The ‘deal’ he announced spends too much and doesn't cut enough,” she said. “This isn't the deal the American people ‘preferred’ either, Mr. President. Someone has to say no. I will.”

Quote:

If I'm the one who's delusional, why is it that congress' approval rating is 19%

How much better was it when that Liberal whack job Pelosi was running the house? Congress gets low approval because it no longer works, who sits in the chairs makes not a damn bit of difference.. The problem is the institution not the charactors.

A "blank check" to pay existing commitments? It would be funny if it wasn't so serious.

You keep dodging that congressional republicans are the least popular of all politicians