One day until the debt deadline: The day ahead on the Hill
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 1st, 2011 4:35 am by HL
One day until the debt deadline: The day ahead on the Hill
Monday represents a make-or-break day in the negotiations on raising the country’s debt ceiling. With one day remaining until the deadline to raise the federal borrowing limit or else face default, leaders in both chambers are met with the daunting task of rounding up support among rank-and-file members, some of whom have already expressed skepticism about the agreement.
Here’s a look at what’s on the schedule today (although the day’s events are likely to change as the debt-limit developments warrant):
Interest groups report major political contributions
Interest groups closely linked to both parties revealed a bevy of financiers who wrote six- and seven-figure checks to back Republican and Democratic candidates in disclosure documents filed over the weekend.
The filings come at the start of a presidential contest that is expected to be awash in spending by monied interest groups — a contrast to the 2008 election cycle, which largely offered a reprieve from interest-group spending backed by wealthy donors.
The big contributions, which largely come from a handful of party stalwarts, show how top donors on both sides of the aisle are willing to invest in campaigns with the Democratic Senate majority in the balance and the presidency at stake in 2012. The reports show a Democratic donor base that appears to be much more engaged after a 2010 midterm election dominated by new Republican groups.
Congress putting its faith in committee
After weeks, months, of bitter feuding, Congress has finally agreed on who cannot be trusted to solve the country’s complicated fiscal problems: The U.S. Congress. All 535 members. And Congress has a solution — a special committee.
Both Republicans and Democrats have proposed drumming up a committee of 12 legislators — handpicked by both parties — to deal with the most complicated issues involved in a likely debt-ceiling compromise. It will be up to this “super committee” to complete the epic task of cutting more than $1 trillion in spending from the federal budget.
The debt-ceiling deal: Winners and losers
The debt ceiling fight is over. The White House and congressional leaders have settled on a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, enact immediate spending cuts and, our favorite part, create a super-commission designed to trim the federal budget further by the end of the year.
The political stakes for this fight were massive — and it produced a number of winners and losers. Our take on the best and the worst is below.
Mitch McConnell: The Kentucky Republican was like the Mariano Rivera of the debt deal. He waited until the game was in its final moments, came onto the field and helped close things down (in a good way). McConnell was also a voice of reason and frankness for Republicans, making clear that default would be a huge political loser for the party. In the end, he got a deal the way he wanted one — with him at the center of negotiations.
College affirmative action back on Supreme Court’s horizon
When the Supreme Court in 2003 narrowly approved the consideration of race in public university admission decisions, it came with loads of restrictions and a sort of expiration date.
“We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today,” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote for the majority in Grutter v. Bollinger .
But, of course, O’Connor is now retired from the court, replaced by Samuel A. Alito Jr., a justice far more skeptical of racial remedies. And two recent decisions in lower courts have raised the prospect that the issue will return to the high court far ahead of O’Connor’s timeline.
