<![CDATA[RealClearPolitics - Articles by Eric Lipton]]>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/?id=23080Author <![CDATA[Sides Confident on Deficit Talks Despite Impasse]]> Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500 WASHINGTON — Top Republican lawmakers and the Obama administration’s budget director predicted Sunday that an agreement would be reached before the federal government defaults on its debt in early August, but both sides continued to squabble over the details of competing proposals, offering little evidence that a deal was at hand.

The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join thediscussion.

“I do not believe that responsible leaders in Washington will force this to default,”  Jacob J. Lew, the White House budget office chief said on the ABC News program “This Week.” “All of the...]]>