The Republican Party has earned such a reputation for stubbornness that the kind of extralegal presidential powers George W. Bush used to handle terrorists are now popping up in discussions of Barack Obama's budget negotiations with Congress. But Republicans have not decided to block all things forever. "No" has its limits.
The person who deserves the most blame for the sequester -- the automatic spending cuts that kick in March 1 and will slow GDP growth by 0.5 percent -- is not President Obama or John Boehner, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
It is starting to look less likely that Congress will reach a deal that prevents automatic spending cuts from taking effect March 1, so politicians are finding the strength to accept the things they cannot change, and change the things they cannot accept. That means accepting the sequester but changing who gets blamed for it.
The tax hike, which takes effect immediately for wages earned in 2013, doesn't have too many fans.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will reportedly leave his post by the end of January, giving up his cabinet position just weeks before the next big debt ceiling fight heats up.
Alex Koppelman on the Sandy relief bill, Charles Blow on future cliffs, Matt Lewis on conservatives losing the culture war, Sheri Berman on waning Arab Spring optimism, and Gideon Rachman on Britain's relationship with the EU.
The contentious fiscal cliff deal struck Tuesday night sent stock markets, here and abroad, "climbing", "surging", "rallying," and "soaring" on Wednesday. Which confirms the importance of striking a deal — any deal! — in the first place.
It was supposed to be the day everyone breathed easy after the House finally (if temporarily) staved off a fiscal nightmare. Then House Speaker John Boehner faced a torrent of criticism for shutting down a vote on a federal relief bill for Hurricane Sandy victims before the Congressional term finished, and by the time everyone headed home for the day, he appeared to have given in.
Even conservative anti-Boehner forces outside of Congress that have been pushing to get House members to pick someone else are conceding another candidate will step forward, from the shadows or anywhere else.
The outspoken Republican Congressman from New York, has been blasting his own party's leadership for stalling a bill amidst the fiscal cliff talks that would fund relief for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy
The heated fiscal cliff negotiations are over — for now — so it's time to assess your wallet: The payroll tax hike cancels out some other tax cuts, but that doesn't necessarily mean your take-home income will decrease.
Ezra Klein on the GOP's fiscal compromise, Maureen Dowd on the Democrats' cliff surprise, Amy Davidson on future fiscal fights, Anuradha Roy on rape in India, and Shashank Joshi on Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
The best thing you can say about the New Year's Day fiscal cliff deal is that it's unlikely to hurt the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, it does almost nothing to help it.
While we may be just weeks away from a series of mini-cliffs to come, the House of Representatives approved the much debated Senate version of a bill late Sunday night, 257-167, averting a fiscal crisis. President Obama said at an evening appearance that he would sign it.
Speaker of the House John Boehner's job today was to try and sell House Republicans on the fiscal cliff deal hammered out by the Senate in the wee hours of last night. Eric Cantor is certainly making that as hard as possible.
While you were out enjoying your New Year's Eve, members of the Senate and some of our top lawmakers rang in the new year working on, and eventually passing, a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.
Even as the United States found itself poised to go over the fiscal cliff on New Year's Eve, a deal was emerging — and liberals did not particularly like it. Here's why, exactly, they think he's got no game.
The downside is that the new package shoves many of the tough decisions about long-term tax and spending policy into January and February, when lawmakers will face the debt ceiling.
During a statement at the White House Monday, the president said the following: "I'm going to be president for the next four years. I hope." Did Obama let all those comparisons to Lincoln get to him?
As the fiscal cliff negotiations reach their final hour, a strange new trend has emerged: people are going on TV and saying, with a straight face, that making $250,000 a year doesn't make you rich.
Eric Singer on how the fiscal cliff affects paychecks in Congress, Jonathan Chait on Obama's fiscal caving, Bill Keller channels the NRA's president, John O'Sullivan on mass firings at Russia's Radio Liberty, and Gordon Chang on the Japanese economy.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
After President Obama said a deal was "within sight," a tax agreement was evolving in the Senate — but the House acknowledged it would not vote on fiscal measures before the midnight deadline. America, welcome to overboard.
The fiscal cliff talks that were going so well yesterday have fallen apart, and now Mitch McConnell is reaching out to Vice President Joe Biden to help him see if they can get this deal done.
You would think the Senate and Congressional leaders would be making all kinds of progress towards a fiscal cliff deal considering it quite literally is zero hour and the country is mere days away from actually, really going over the proverbial cliff. But nope! You would be mistaken.
The most powerful people in Washington met at the White House on Friday, and they all walked away, saying and accomplishing close to nothing. President Obama and Speaker Boehner made evening statements, and here's what we know heading into the weekend.
After conflicting reports on whether a new offer was coming and in advance of a White House summit Friday afternoon, President Obama has reportedly crafted a "scaled back" proposal that would — temporarily, at least — avoid next week's fiscal cliff.
Noam Scheiber on the truth about the fiscal cliff, Paul Krugman on the end of growth, Robert Samuelson on elite high schools, Walter Russell Mead on Syria, and Bruce Crumley on France's colonial legacy.
A summary of the best reads found behind the paywall of The New York Times.
Scott Brown will soon be out of a job, and it's no real secret that he will become the leading contender — even with new competition — in a special election to fill John Kerry's soon-to-be vacant Senate seat. So why is he making all this stuff up?
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave a less than encouraging speech on the Senate floor today, essentially conceded that the fiscal cliff is happening. During his remarks, Reid scolded his House counterpart John Boehner, calling his rule a "dictatorship."
Just in case the fiscal cliff problem wasn't bumming you out enough, Tim Geithner has politely reminded everyone that as of Monday, the Treasury Department won't be able to borrow any more money.
It might be a mini-deal, but still: members of Congress are expected to go back to work Thursday, and lawmakers seem to realize that their theatrics are wearing thin on the American public.
The governor will announce the replacement as soon as Wednesday, which would give Democrats in the Senate a vote on any fiscal-cliff deal.
After a nice long holiday weekend, President Obama and members of Congress suddenly remembered that they never took care of that fiscal cliff thing that happens in just six days.
After the markets had closed and elected Washington had headed home for the holidays, President Obama took to the White House podium early Friday evening and suggested Congress cool off over Christmas.
House Republicans embarrassed "poor, orange man" John Boehner and rejected his backup plan, leaving the negotiations with a complex future. Here's how Obama and the Speaker might move next, if Boehner's even still the Speaker.
Kimberley Strassel on corporate America's role in the fiscal cliff, Allen Frances on the cost of the DSM-5, Tim Padgett on Mexico after the end of the world, Terry Glavin on Richard Engel, and Paul Bogard on the danger of the night shift.
Lost in all the anxiety over the Fiscal Cliff, is another little noticed deadline that could force you to pay double the price for a gallon of milk come January 1.
After an hour delay so Speaker of the House John Boehner could try and whip up more Republicans votes to get his Plan B vote through Congress, the Speaker's saving grace bill didn't even go to a vote. And Boehner, like Elvis, left the building.
Jeffrey Rosen on Robert Bork's legacy, Ezra Klein on what would make a good fiscal cliff deal, Adam Gopnik on gun control, Andres Oppenheimer on Latin America and the Senate, and Timothy Garton Ash on Britain and the EU.
Instead of putting pressure on Obama and the White House, which immediately rejected and then announced its intention to veto the idea, Plan B has brought more attention to infighting among Republicans.
President Obama's highly anticipated press conference — in which he offered his strongest remarks about new gun legislation since the Newtown shootings, and officially announced a commission to be led by Vice President Biden — wasn't very interesting to the White House press pool. They wanted to talk about the fiscal cliff. Here's an anatomy of the insiders' priority shift.
If the White House won't buy the House Republicans' backup plan, does that mean it's time for fiscal cliff panic?
Within hours of its being floated publicly, the White House has already rejected House Speaker John Boehner's backup plan on the fiscal-cliff negotiations.
House Speaker John Boehner announced in a press conference Tuesday morning that he's suddenly pushing for a backup plan, which he also hopes will prod President Obama into a better deal for conservatives.
Jonathan Cohn on the emerging fiscal cliff deal, Frank Bruni on a shooting's aftermath, Jeffrey Toobin on the Second Amendment, Haytham Manna on Syria, and Josh Kraushaar on Tim Scott.
Leaked details of Obama's third attempt to compromise with Republicans on solutions for the fiscal cliff made headlines on Monday night, mainly the bit about increasing the earnings threshold to $400,000 for higher tax rates.
Seeking Arrangement, the infamous dating website that matches "sugar daddies" and "sugar mommies" with attractive but cash-strapped young people, is inserting itself into the budget debate with a new pitch: to avoid the fiscal cliff, have a rich guy buy you things.
John Boehner has finally given in to raising taxes for America's wealthiest citizens for the first time in the ongoing fiscal cliff talks. But it isn't exactly what the President asked for...
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