After esteemed ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered the United States' credit rating from AAA to AA+ (and three "Great Job!" stickers down to one) the markets are still taking time to "bottom out," in the words of Alan Greenspan, and Washington and Wall Street find themselves mired in the Kübler-Ross model of the Five Stages of Grief. Grab a bottle of Night Train and cut your last Prozac in half so you can make your journey through America's psyche go a little smoother. more ›

After Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' credit rating from AAA to AA+, the single largest foreign holder of American debt spoke up. Yes, that would be China (it has, oh, about $1.1 trillion in U.S. debt) —and China was not happy! The country's official news agency Xinhua issued a statement:

China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States to address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets... more ›

Carl Paladino, the "outrageous" Tea Party favorite who managed to win last year's NY Republican gubernatorial primary to lose against Andrew Cuomo (and imagined him naked), is BACK. On Fox Business News, at least. Referring to how Vice President Joe Biden called the Tea Party Republicans "terrorists" during the debt ceiling negotiations, Paladino said, "Who terrorized who? The President of the United States terrorized the elderly by telling them that they are not going to get a check. What’s the matter with these people?” This coming from a man who threatened the NY Post's Albany bureau chief and loves to forward bestiality videos! more ›

After the House's passage of the debt-ceiling "compromise" that will raise the debt ceiling through 2013 and cut more than $2.1 trillion in government spending without raising taxes or closing corporate loopholes, the Senate passed the bill today 74-26. The bill is expected to be signed by the president "immediately." Among the lawmakers who voted against the legislation was New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who said in a statement, "This deal…is an unbalanced approach that cuts deeply into discretionary spending while being overwhelmingly stacked in favor of large corporations. It is simply not in the best interests of the middle class." Middle class? What middle class? more ›

The House of Representatives passed the bill to raise the debt ceiling in a 269 to 161 vote. The Washington Post has a graphic of the "recalcitrant Republicans and disappointed Democrats [who] rallied around a measure to avert a government default" as well as the House members who voted against the effort, but the real news was that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), who was shot in the head at the beginning of the year, made a surprise appearance to cast her vote in support. more ›

Showing a fire that they completely lacked during the actual negotiations for a debt-ceiling deal, Vice President Joe Biden and House Democrats called tea party Republicans "terrorists" in a closed-door meeting today to rally support for the debt-ceiling compromise. According to Politico, Congressman Mike Doyle said, "We have negotiated with terrorists," referring to the fact that Democrats foolishly accepted a deal that included zero tax increases on the wealthy to make the deadline before default. Biden agreed: "They have acted like terrorists." This has been said before, but we guess the GOP was right: Democrats do negotiate with terrorists, and it's not such a good thing. more ›

As expected, a debt ceiling deal has been reached between Democrats and Republicans. The plan will raise the debt ceiling by $2.4 trillion through the end of 2012 and calls for $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction. President Obama made the announcement at 8:40 p.m, "This will allow us to avoid default, allow us to pay our bills," but pointed out that the plan needs to get passed, "We are not done yet. I urge members to do the right thing and support this deal with your vote." more ›

As expected, Majority Leader Harry Reid failed to keep his debt-ceiling bill alive in the Senate earlier today, but now the Times reports that Reid has approved an agreement signaled earlier today by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that would cut the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion and raise the debt-ceiling limit through 2013, a provision that prevents this entire battle from being re-fought during the election season. If the Democrats approve, we should see a vote scheduled for the Senate this evening. more ›

After the failure by both parties to advance their catastrophe-sparing legislation to raise the debt ceiling beyond the House of Representatives, Senator Mitch McConnell told reporters this afternoon that a default on U.S. debt "is not going to happen," and that he's "confident and optimistic" of an "agreement within the very near future," based on his recent telephone conversations with President Obama and Vice President Biden. Speaker Boehner agreed, telling CNN, "In spite of our differences, we're dealing with reasonable, responsible people." HAHA he'll be here all weekend, people! more ›

As the United States' economic standing is on the brink and after House Speaker John Boehner delayed the House's vote on a debt ceiling bill last night (because he didn't have support to pass it!), President Obama addressed the nation this morning and said a bipartisan solution was needed: “I urge Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to find common ground on a plan that can get support from both parties in the House, a plan that I can sign by Tuesday." more ›

In less than a week, the United States of America will default on its monetary obligations unless the debt ceiling is raised, ether through an act of Congress or President Obama using The Force the 14th Amendment to do so. But John Boehner is probably wondering if all that 2010 Tea Party pandering was worth it. In a closed-door meeting with his caucus this morning, Boehner ordered his far-right colleagues who have resisted any increase in the debt ceiling to "get your ass in line" behind his proposed bill, which the CBO embarrassingly noted would actually save $150 billion less than the Speaker promised. Boehner needs the support of his colleagues so badly that in a GOP meeting yesterday, a clip from 2010's The Town was shown to rally the troops. That's right: the fate of the global economy now rests on a Ben Affleck performance. more ›

President Obama addressed the country tonight about the debt-ceiling crisis, expressing hope for a "balanced approach, but also expressed concern about default while blasting some members of Congress, "Unfortunately, for the past several weeks, Republican House members have essentially said that the only way they’ll vote to prevent America’s first-ever default is if the rest of us agree to their deep, spending cuts-only approach. If that happens, and we default, we would not have enough money to pay all of our bills - bills that include monthly Social Security checks, veterans’ benefits, and the government contracts we’ve signed with thousands of businesses." more ›

There's only 9 shopping days until the real apocalypse, and that means time is running out for President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to hammer out a "grand bargain" that would reduce the deficit by trillions, raise the debt-ceiling limit, and soothe the worries of the global economy. Boehner reportedly called Obama today, but that was probably to tell him how much he cried when he saw Marley and Me. However, the original First Black President, William Jefferson Clinton, suggested last week that Obama use Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling himself. While the president said on Friday that his attorneys "are not persuaded that that is a winning argument," a few law professors tell the Times it's entirely feasible. more ›

Are you a veteran, receiving Social Security, a government contractor, or of one of the recipients of the 70 million checks the federal government mails out every month? Your payments may be drastically affected (along with the American economy) next month if the debt-ceiling limit isn't raised in 10 days. more ›

Despite Paul Giamatti Ben Bernake warning Congress that the failure to raise the debt ceiling by August 4 would spark a "major crisis" that would send "shock waves" throughout the global economy, Rep. Boehner angrily pulled back from a "grand bargain" and now even the more modest deals pitched by the Biden group seem to be in peril. This has America's Mayor, Mike Bloomberg begging Washington to raise the limit before something "catastrophic" happens. At a press conference in Queens yesterday, Bloomberg said of the DC pols, "The debt ceiling is so important that playing 'chicken with it may be cute and may be good politics but it doesn't leave the rest of the world having a warm and fuzzy feeling about investing in America." more ›

This weekend, House Speaker John Boehner walked away from a grand bargain that would lower the deficit by $4 trillion, raise the debt ceiling, and bolster the economy, because his party can't stand to make rich people pay taxes. So Boehner flipped his lid in a closed-door meeting with House Republicans today, telling them how "pissed" he was was the president. According to Politico, Boehner said Obama "talks a good game, but when it comes time to actually putting these issues on the table, making decisions, he can't quite pull the trigger." Aww, sounds like someone could use a cigarette and a good cry. May we suggest Nights In Rodanthe and a pack of Misty Ultra Light 100s? more ›