"You're elected executive to lead. And I think it's incumbent on the president to put the plan out there," Gov. Christie said. "You cannot wait for members of a legislative body to lead," he continued. "The executive has an obligation to lead." (source:

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) had some criticism for fellow Florida Congressman Allen West (R) and decided to let it out on the House floor. Here is what the Congresswoman said about Rep. West today: “The gentleman from Florida who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase co

"When a country is indebted to the degree that we’re indebted, the country always defaults. We will default because the debt is unsustainable," Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said on the House floor today. "If we don’t understand this, this default will not be because we don't send out the checks. We will send out the checks. It will be defaulted on b

Key line from Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL, Chicago) to Chris Matthews: Obama "doesn't send a thrill up my leg." REP. JOE WALSH, (R-IL): "All of these Democrats, Chris, that have not put forth a plan or a budget, they are going to have to sign on as well." CHRIS MATTHEWS: "Okay, just to repeat what's obvious to everybody watching. Your plan does not

"They're in the pub drunk as sailors. Sorry sailors, I mean liberals," Mark Levin said about Congressional spending during his nationally syndicated radio show on Tuesday evening. Commenting on financial crimes, Levin says "if these Congressmen were CEOs, they'd be in jail."

MSNBC's The Contessa Brewer: "We saw kind of an arm swat there many the video. I mean, the thing is we've been watching this testimony for the last few hours here. It's been compelling testimony in and of itself, Thomas. And then this has been the attention getter of the day. When you're standing here and you're listening to it and all of a sudden

"Well no, all they are saying is ‘I hate Michele Bachman,’ ‘I hate Sarah Palin.’ Except they’re saying, ‘I [expletive] hate Michele Bachmann,’ ‘I [expletive] hate Sarah Palin.’ And then conservative blogs and this show say, ‘Oh, they use the f-word,’ and then they get 8 billion times more viewers. Why aren’t we talking about

White House press secretary Jay Carney is asked about President Obama's debt plan at today's briefing: TAPPER: OK. The House is passing something that many observers feel would never pass the Senate and the president has said he would veto. The Senate is passing — the McConnell-Reid plan, it’s not clear that that could pass t

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the need to pass legislation that would cut government spending now, cap it in the future and approve a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget.

A man tries to throw a paper plate covered in shaving foam over Rupert Murdoch as he gave evidence to a House of Commons Committee in London

"So for us to see Democratic Senators acknowledge that we've got to do with our long-term debt problems that arise out of our various entitlement programs, and for Republican Senators to acknowledge that revenues will have to be part of a balanced package that make sure that nobody is disproportionately hurt from us making progress on the debt and

"I'll tell you what's absurd. It's saying that they have a plan when they have no plan at all. That's what's absurd. Then we are here today dealing with this challenge ought not be a surprise to anybody. Decade after decade, Congress after Congress, President after President they have borrowed too much, spent too much and taxed too much. Which is w

Speaker John Boehner: "This week, the House will pass a plan that addresses our debt and spending while taking action on the debt ceiling. And while the House once again acts responsibly, the administration still won’t present a plan or even say what cuts it’s willing to make to end Washington’s spending binge and the economic uncertainty tha

Brit Hume says the debt fight now is similar to the one that occurred under President Bill Clinton. Except this time the economy is in far worse shape.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) on efforts to agree on a solution to the debt ceiling and spending cuts.

"I want to be clear, the reason I cannot run this agency is because of those people [Senate Republicans]. They've made it perfectly clear they will not let the agency go forward if I'm there. Fine. I can step away from this. What I care about is this agency. The President has now made his nomination. He's a good man, Richard Cordray is. And I think

Charles Krauthammer discusses the 2012 GOP presidential race."[Perry] could be the third anti-Romney. He already is third in the polls among those who are running -- assuming he runs, which I'm sure he will. So, he's ahead of everybody except Romney and Bachmann. So, he's starting from a really advantageous position."

Will the tea party get what it wants? Will Obama cave? Ed talks with Ezra Klein of the Washington Post and Tea Party Nation founder, Judson Phillips.

“The Senate has no more important task than making sure the United States does not fail to pay our bills for pre-existing obligations like Social Security for the first time in our history. To ensure that we meet this responsibility, the Senate will stay in session every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, from now until Congress passes legisl

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, explains what he thinks should happen with the debt ceiling debate.

Bill O'Reilly: "On paper, the debt thing is boring, and many Americans aren't paying attention. But the controversy will define the future of the USA."