"He has an obligation to make sure the government pays its bills. And also, quite frankly, we're in this mess because of the runaway spending and the failed economic policies of the Obama administration. So, it is now incumbent upon the President to stop essentially talking down to the Congress, dictating what his terms are going to be with the deb

CNN host Piers Morgan: "If you had a choice, gun to your head, which one is it? Palin or Bachmann?" "I would need a gun to my head. I hope Sarah Palin gets in so that they split the MILF vote," Bill Maher said.

"I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it," President Obama said in g an interview with CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, according to excerpts released by CB

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) talks with Fox New's Bill Hemmer about the budget and the debt limit. "We're not going to have a default," Toomey proclaimed. He blames these "shrill exaggerations" on President Obama and his administration. "There's more than enough cash that will be coming into the Treasury in the form of ongoing tax revenue. Actually

The White House announced it will not "read out the dialogue from the meetings" on the debt and deficit negotiations.
 However, Mr. Carney did say "more people now are aware of what the playing field now looks like, where the compromises can be found."

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) slams President Obama on the Senate floor for proposing more tax hikes than spending cuts. Transcript below: “For more than two years now, Republicans in Washington have stood united in the belief that America would never recover from the economic crisis that struck our nation three yea

Former one-term Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) announced he will be seeking another term in 2012. Grayson says Obama needs to tell the public that the GOP is "bigoted." "Washington is now divided between the 'meanies' and the 'weenies.' It’s the real two party system today in Washington, the meanies and the weenies. The meanies want to tak

I don't want to get the Speaker in trouble, but clearly he was willing to make some tough decisions, some compromises; what's going to be necessary to get the deficit and debt under control and economy moving again," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, said in praise of Speaker John Boehner. "He clearly had his legs cut out from under him by memb

GOP presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) argues against raising the debt ceiling on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Monday. "The fact is we have sufficient revenue coming in to pay off the interest on the debt. We don't have to default. We have a great bill that's being put forward by Steve King of Iowa. It would combine paying off th

"If you sit down with Tim Geithner, Secretary Geithner, and you listen to him explain what happens in August if we don't get a deal. And how you can't just pay the interest. In fact these T-bills mature -- $87 billion one week, about the same amount the next week. About the same amount the next week. And you get to the end of the month, and if peop

Charles Krauthammer on "Special Report" panel segment: "Look, he adopts this position of being the Olympian observer of all this, above all the squabbling. Everyone else plays politics, but he acts in the national interest. And he says, you know, 'If not now, when?' All of a sudden he's decided we have to have a big deal, not a small deal. For mont

Ed Schultz says that on the debt ceiling talks "President Obama has put everything on the table for Republicans, and the party of 'no,' well, they just can't take 'yes' for an answer."

Major Garrett says President Obama appears to be a moderate within his party because he is talking about reforming Social Security, which he says "gets them "cranked up." Major Garrett, National Journal: "This week is about preparing the Obama message for 2012 and the Republicans concede privately that he's doing a much better job than they are.

O'Reilly says the debt ceiling should be raised if "big spending cuts are agreed upon."