Shutdown

WASHINGTON — Senate leaders agreed on compromise legislation Friday night to extend Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for tw...

Republicans are holding government hostage, trying to force through cuts to the things We, the People -- "the 99%" -- do for each other and our economy, while giving handouts to the 1%. Once again they are threatening to shut down the whole government if they don't get their way.

WASHINGTON — A weekend government shutdown that neither party wanted was averted when Congress approved a compromise spending bill Thursday, as ...

A while back I was writing about the Republican threat of a government-wide shutdown, and the two-week Federal Aviation Administration shutdown (and D...

Back in 1995 and 1996, a government shutdown actually happened -- twice. The debt ceiling was not raised, but the country did not default. President Clinton actively used his veto pen, as the Republicans sent him bills that they knew he would not sign.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kent Mechels spent the last three Christmases away from his family plowing snow off Minnesota roads so people could drive safe...

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama reached an eleventh hour budget deal on Friday night,...

This whole government shutdown walk-to-the-brink-and-stare-into-the-abyss thing is nothing more than the warmup for the next budgetary battles -- which will be much bigger.

WASHINGTON -- As House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) briefed his conference on the broad strokes of a government funding bill, aides behind the scenes...

Betty Bracy said the phone rang at her Northwest Washington, D.C. apartment around 3 p.m. on Friday. The voice on the line told her she shouldn't expe...

Paul Ryan's tax breaks total more than $4.1 trillion. What does that mean for you? 90 percent of Americans will see their taxes go up under the Ryan budget.

What does a government shutdown mean? It means no more government student loans, no pay for the troops, no more government-backed mortgages, and no tax refunds (one week before taxes are due). But there is one thing you can still do.

Last night, the president quoted J.T.'s remarks about "grandstanding" and added: "I could not have said it better myself." With all due respect, Mr. President, I believe you could have said it better yourself.

Our communities are enduring mammoth state and federal budget cuts because we have failed to sufficiently tax America's billionaires or prevent aggressive tax avoidance by multinational companies.

Not my fault. Don't blame me. The shutdown, I mean. I'm glad we could clear that up. Because the last thing I want to see happen is to be held even vaguely responsible for even a tiny little bit of it.

The unwritten and unspoken story of the budget showdown in Washington is the tale of both parties deliberately working to once again exempt the ever-growing Pentagon from America's larger deficit discussion.

With the possibility of a government shutdown looming, it's hard not to see how uncomfortable both Speaker of the House John Boehner and President Barack Obama are at this sort of bare-knuckles game.

WASHINGTON -- As Congress grinds closer to shutting down the federal government and the White House floats proposals to cut social services for workin...

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a statement addressing what a government shutdown would mean for federal employees should lawmakers fa...

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joseph Biden is meeting with Senate Democratic leadership Wednesday night in an effort to get officials on the same page ...

The first rule of negotiating is to pick the right starting position, understanding you will have to give some things up to reach agreement. At the very least, Democrats should start with the best policies for the public, and negotiate from there.

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans will introduce legislation, likely by the end of this week, that would make it so that if Congress is unable to come t...

Why are Republicans forcing a government shutdown and doing other things aimed at blowing up the economy? The question isn't "are they," it is why are they?