Barack the Mad  —  The American presidency comes off the rails.  —  On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland …

U.S. Stock Futures Decline After Lawmakers Fail to Reach Debt-Ceiling Deal  —  U.S. stock futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will slump after rallying within 1.4 percent of a three-year high, as failure to raise the federal debt limit intensified concern of a default.

What Were They Thinking?  —  Someday people will look back and wonder, What were they thinking?  Why, in the midst of a stalled recovery, with the economy fragile and job creation slowing to a trickle, did the nation's leaders decide that the thing to do—in order to raise the debt limit …

Cantor Opposed Short-Term Debt Ceiling Increase, Now Calls Obama's Opposition to Short-Term Increase ‘Indefensible’  —  Today, Speaker John Boehner told the House GOP caucus that he is preparing a short-term bill that would raise the debt ceiling for about six months, despite Obama's pledge to veto such a measure.

Rep. David Wu won't resign, Nancy Pelosi calls for ethics investigation  —  Rep. David Wu said late Sunday he would not resign but would complete his term and then retire from Congress.  —  The surprising decision came one day after senior Democratic leaders urged the seven-term Democrat …

Messing With Medicare  —  At the time of writing, President Obama's hoped-for “Grand Bargain” with Republicans is apparently dead.  And I say good riddance.  I'm no more eager than other rational people (a category that fails to include many Congressional Republicans) to see what happens if the debt limit isn't raised.