Regardless of how the current debt ceiling circus act plays out, don't be surprised to see what happens to Uncle Sam's credit rating as potential lenders to a government living well beyond its means start figuring all of this out.

In the midst of caving in to President Obama on the whole debt ceiling fight, Eric Cantor tossed out a proposal (likely, to distract attention from his giant cave on the debt ceiling) which, at first glance, sounds great. Almost.

Why was it so difficult to avoid the fiscal cliff? Especially when, in the end, Congress couldn't salvage a grand bargain à la Simpson-Bowles, but instead settled for a quick fix?

During the halcyon 1990s, we labeled annual congressional temper tantrums for what they were: standard, if boring, budget impasses. Now, though, in a ...

Over the next couple months, members of Congress will have the responsibility of raising the debt ceiling, setting a budget for the coming year and deciding whether to allow $1.2 trillion in spending cuts to take effect. This is not a fiscal cliff. This is our job.

The intense polarization and gridlock that characterizes Congress is the result of attitudes and behaviors that have become ingrained habits since 2008.

Washington is careening off the fiscal cliff smack into the debt ceiling. Once more, Washington is fixated on what and how to cut. Once more, Republicans have indicated that they are prepared to hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage.

BY MATTHEW DALY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a bill that boosts taxes on the wealthiest Americans, whi...

The Republicans are threatening to tank the economy so they can cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and other things that matter. We should just tell them, and nervous Democrats who want to cave to them, absolutely not.

The battle over the fiscal cliff was only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling -- a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation's debt.

I don't mean to be a downer, but any relief you feel should be analogized to how much better you feel when you stop banging a hammer on your head. We've avoided, for the moment, a self-made trap. Now, of course, we're on to the next one -- the debt ceiling.

On the substance, progressives should not cry "sellout" when the rich have had a permanent tax increase and the unemployed and middle-class are protected. We should cry wolf only when the right-wing wolf is really at the door of the poor and the middle class.

WASHINGTON -- A day late and trillions of dollars short, Congress passed a hard-won deal to ease large portions of the "fiscal cliff." The nation s...

By easily compromising on his central campaign promise that he claimed was a line in the sand, Obama signaled to Republicans that there's nothing he won't compromise on.

WASHINGTON -- Congress stumbled ingloriously off Capitol Hill New Year's Eve, with the Senate passing a "fiscal cliff" deal two hours after the deadli...

The U.S. Treasury Department has been taking contributions toward the national debt since 1961. The largest single donation, made in 1992, was $3.5 million. Most contributions have been under $100 dollars.

The deal emerging from the Senate is a lousy one. Let me count the ways.

WASHINGTON -- The United States government will miss the end-of-the-year deadline to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff, House Republicans conceded Mo...

State legislatures dominated by political parties that focus only on taking and holding power have been able to create election districts that more resemble highly-protected nests for members of their party than the compact contiguous communities of interest they're supposed to be.

WASHINGTON -- With hours remaining to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama said a deal is “within sight” and urged lawmakers t...

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell talked deep into Sunday night, but New Year's Eve dawned with the ed...

The concessions that the White House will ring out of the GOP won't alter the party's game plan to use the fiscal cliff and all other vital issues that will come down the legislative pike to reassert its traditional role as the guardian for the corporate rich and to defiantly oppose Obama administration policies.

WASHINGTON -- Tense "fiscal cliff" negotiations on Capitol Hill Sunday inched forward slightly as Republican senators agreed to take Social Security c...

WASHINGTON -- With less than a day and a half before the nation hits the so-called fiscal cliff, Senate leaders declared Sunday afternoon they had mad...