Politico "Opening the Senate at noon, Reid had proceeded with an attempt to cut off debate on an alternative package he put forward. That motion failed 50-49, as expected, but Reid kept his options open to force a second cloture vote if he so chose. Timing was crucial with financial markets reopening Monday, one day before the threat of default."While both sides stress that nothing is final yet, the contours of the would-be agreement 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."
Reid signs off on bipartisan debt deal but Boehner holds out "But the emerging deal may be imperiled by last-minute reluctance from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) who worries the proposal cuts too much from future Pentagon budgets." More here.
You have to endure a 30-second commercial first.
Krauthammer: Why the Boehner Plan must pass " I have every sympathy with the conservative counterrevolutionaries. Their containment of the Obama experiment has been remarkable. But reversal — rollback, in Cold War parlance — is simply not achievable until conservatives receive a mandate to govern from the White House."
CNN anchor to Rand Paul: I hope you’re happy with yourself, Mr. Tea Party "From that perspective, this is actually a dynamite sneak preview of how the media will react on Wednesday if today’s deal falls apart and we end up hitting the ceiling. If you want to ask someone why they’ve resorted to desperate measures, at least let ‘em explain why they think these are desperate times, no? Especially since, per Paul, these measures aren’t as desperate as they might be."
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Rich Lowry: Sounding the Alarm on Defense Cuts Quoting John Bolton:
....Defense has already taken hugely disproportionate cuts under President Obama, and there is simply no basis for expanding those cuts further. Republican negotiators must hold the line, since the Obama Administration plainly will not.
Mark Steyn on Nancy Pelosi and the debt fight: Decline starts with the money, but it doesn’t stop there. "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 is “life on this planet as we know it today.” So, if right now you’re living anywhere in the general vicinity of this planet, it’s good to know Nancy’s in there pitching for you."
