Sen. Kent Conrad broke some news on The Last Word tonight. According to him, Sen. Mitch McConnell told Majority Leader Harry Reid he will not negotiate with him anymore — only with President Obama.
This continues the rollercoaster standoff on the debt ceiling between top U.S. lawmakers.
"I've been here for 25 years. I have never heard anything like that," Sen. Conrad told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.
Tonight, the Senate killed the Speaker John Boehner's twice-revised Budget Control Act in a 59-41 vote, minutes after it arrived from the House.
At this point in the game, both Democrats and Republicans are racing the clock. More negotiations are expected over the weekend to try and come up with legislation that can pass both houses by the August 2 deadline to avoid a government default.
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Old Mitch boy has been in the Senate way to long. You people in Ole Kentucky can not truly believe this is your man. E gads, what a old white man with 1800's ideas. Send him someplace quiet where all decisions are made for him, and he only has to answer no because he can not say yes. Good luck folks if you keep him.
Whoa! Don't demonize old white men. Some of us still have brains. I see Mitch, I wanna say "ribbet."
McConnell doesn't care if he ruins the economy. He doesn't care if he distroys the country. His only objective is to make sure Obama is a one term president. He is a racist old goat.
The bad part about this is the president is helping McConnell. Why he doesn't tell the Republicans to go potty or get off the pot is beyond me. I really beleive they will destory this country just to get rid of Obama. Their too stupid to realiize they will destroy themselves.
I can venture a guess why. Obama is trying to keep from antagonizing these Baggers any further because he knows they are insane with hate for him but thanks to some miss guided Americans they do control the house. He is trying to broker a compromise which is what divided government is suppose to do but the loons do not want to agree to anything Obama agrees to. Unless the dems and the few sane republicans can come together and simply raise the debt ceiling we are looking at default. After perhaps a week in default and enough of those miss guided Americans actually FEELING the results of their inactive Bagger loon congressmen. They will either help to motivate them to raise it or Obama will then be forced to use his executive power to raise it and fight it out in court later.
By the way when and if he uses this untested executive power the Bagger loons will spin this to their nutter base as Obama try to be KING or something to that effect. He runs the risk of impeachment proceeding lead by the Baggers and the Repubs once the crisis is over. All while the sane American Majority watches.
That's precisely why the GOP is pushing this. They'd like Obama to use the 14th... and he may be forced into doing so... then they can push for impeachment. There's no way this Supreme Court will back the president and uphold that section of the 14th amendment.
I don't see a rational way to avoid default. The Dems have 'compromised' (i.e. caved in to GOP demands) too many times in the past, and that's what has brought us to this impasse. The GOP knows if it continues to say no, the Dems will be forced into slowly killing the economy by accepting their terms, as opposed to quickly killing it through a default. Either way the time until the election will be consumed by more budget negotiations, or by the impeachment process.
The filibuster of the Reid plan proves this. It offers some $2 trillion in cuts, which is more than Boehner called for, with no revenue increases. And it has more cuts than the amount the debt ceiling will be increased. Isn't that what the GOP said it wanted?
Yes, you are correct this is the path that the Bagger and obviously some Repubs have decided to take. Which will essentially undo an election put forth by the will of the entire country. I have never been a Rebub but you can bet that getting into bed with the Baggers has damaged their brand with the Mega Rich as well as Business people in America who used to hold sway with them. It also damages their potential candidate ie. RICK PERRY because the whole of America has watched the BAGGERLOON agenda play out across America and they do NOT like what they are seeing.
This is exactly what McConnell and the GOP are up to, damn the country, as long as Obama, and the Dems are rendered ineffectual and can be held up as usurping the power of Congress by enacting the 14th amendment. A true Catch 22 where the President is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. It is all about cementing the power of the corporate and wealthy machine, once entrenched, they will never be removed especially with some well placed changes to the constitution. You know, we threw out these demagogs once before in the late 1700's, perhaps it is time to do so again. How about a Constitutional amendment that strips the citizen rights of the corporation? Propose this and see if it doesn't go over like flatulence in church.
The 14 amendment was used before I beleive it was Roosevelt.
Georgia- I wouldn't worry about Tea Baggers thinking Obama setting himself up to be king.
It's not like he created a whole city of Czars to rule all aspects of our lives or anything?
Do you not understand that nothing has to be rational or make sense to the Bagger loons? If they were rational and reasonable they would take the deal offered in REID bill but their objective is to destroy a sitting president and the destruction of the country is merely collateral damage in this quest.
One could say both sides are acting irrationally. If the Dems had accepted the deal between Obama and Boehner...
Also- today I heard Obama speak about getting this passed so that we would avoid a debt downgrade. I thought it was default we were trying to avoid. My guess is that we will be downgraded at least one notch regardless of this outcome.
rusty, were you this critical of W. bush, analyzing every word? maybe because the president thinks that default is no longer a possibility, due to the fact that an agreement is iminent. he may have used the words "debt downgrade" because he now feels that EVERYONE is working against default, even if washington doesn't get this through until after august 2nd.
one could also say that the baggers also needed to accept the deal between boehner and the President. the baggers were not on board with the deal between boehner and the President.
lets get one thing straight about czars. bush had more czars than President Obama. the republican party (glenn beck, sean hannity, sen. kay bailey hutchison, bob bennet and other republican senators) for some reason has an obsession with "czars" in the Obama administration. on his web site, glenn beck has 32 Obama czars listed. he and sean hannity have said that these czars are untrustable, and that they have been appointed "under-the-table" to avoid the general approval process.
W. bush had 35 czars.
of the 32 czars listed by glenn beck in 2009, only 8 of those listed were considered to be czars appointed by President Obama. some of the czars that beck lists were created by previous administrations.
when W. bush had czars he was praised for it, maybe thats why he had so many.
when president Obama has czars, all of a sudden its a little scary.
suzette- they were (are) both wrong. And- I do believe that your numbers are wrong (I looked it up in Wikipedia). Bush II had 33 Czars in 8 years, Obama has had 37 Czars in 2.5 years. But- the entire concept is wrong.
McConnell ---- he thinks he holds the President's future in his hands. He wants the President to capitulate. What has this country come to. God Help Us.
Can we talk about possibly recalling these Baggers at this point or should we wait until the after the default happens?
Vote the terrorist out and keep them out.
This is no surprise, my god, McConnell said he will do whatever he can to destroy Obama, yes, even if it means to destroy our country's economy to achieve his goal. But, much to his dismay, his enemy is Obama and McConnell (the GOP) doesn't have a chance in hell to succeed. The entire GOP has shown us how stupid they are and McConnell just put the icing on the cake. Obama knows how to play them and all along he has done so. That is why he has stayed in the background, why he said the 14th Amendment isn't a good idea, why he teased them with whatever they wanted knowing, like the spoiled brats they are, that his offers would no longer be good enough and they would want more. The GOP's main goal was to destroy Obama and, like raising the debt ceiling, they have failed. Boehner basically eat dung to get the Tea Party to vote in his favor and that bill was killed shortly after it passed. Then McConnell refused to talk to Reid (typical GOP move) and McConnell is simply playing into Obama's hand.
The President has known that whatever he wanted in this bill the GOP would make sure it was not, and that the GOP would push this country over the financial cliff just to get rid of him, so he was ready, he has aways been ready.
The end result: The GOP has destroyed themselves, the Tea Party committed suicide in the House, Obama is going to wait them out and at the last minute he will use Section 4 in the 14th Amandment to raise the debt ceiling through 2012, A CLEAN BILL. So all of the bull@!$%# the GOP tried to attach, all of the cuts, no tax increase, a Constitutional Amendment, and a lot of additional attachments for the wealthy we have not yet heard about will not be on Obama's Clean Bill. Yes,
the GOP drama queens have entertained us, and while doing so they've shown us how stupid they are, shown us their true colors, shown us how racist they are, shown us that they think this country and it's economy is just a joke to them so, in the 2012 election, don't forget to vote for them (lol).
The main problem with using the 14th amendment is that it will end up in court - the corporate owned supreme court. The Roberts court. Then we truly are in even more trouble. I surely don't know the answer, however I think something will get done soon. No thanks to these ideologues.
Did anyone see that idiotic GOTP woman on Bill Maher tonight? She's a lock for a job on FOX. I'm sick to my stomach over the whole debacle. Polls (for what they're worth) show the TP shrinking - it just hasn't sunk into the heads of these ignorant tools.
Ha, how about the one freshman TPer that said we should LOWER the debt ceiling? Can't think of his name, but someone should sue the board of education where HE grew up. Or look at his parents. Apples really don't fall far from the tree. Rand Paul anyone?
You have said a mouthful. You are so right. I said the same thing. Obama knows just what he's doing. He is just letting them make a fool out of themselves. And in the end he will raise the debt celing by doing the 14th amendment. I just think all of this is just so sad. They just giving him such a hard time. They have played their hand, and they have not relize that by doing this obama will be in office for the next 4 years. And the tea pary better go ahead and have a tea party because this is their last term in congress. So yes you are right. Obama also is tired of this mess as well.I hope all the voters she this, so when the voters go to the polls in 2012 i hope they remember the debt celing and vote the tea party and the republicans out of office
I hear you. Lol. His last name is Brown. I forgot his first name. You can tell the tea party doesn't understand the debt celing. How are you gonna lower the debt celing when you the congress have ran up the bills. You can't lower something that you owe. I am not in congress and at least i know that. I heard how it works and i get it, and i am not in public office, and you want the tea party to run our country, I don't think so. So yes i did hear that. He ought to win the most dumbest teaparty. I just hope the american people remember this when they go to the polls.
No need for that balanced budget amendment. The people who want that amendment need to be reminded that they were elected to establish a budget, a balanced budget.
Chris in Hamlin, New York
Let us not forget that this is a manufacturered crisis.....cooked up by the Republican Caucus.
I am still looking for the Republican Jobs bill. Please tell me what the Republicans have proposed and passed since taking office?
Finally, when are American going to wake up? G.E. pays no taxes AND receives a tax credit. The Republicans would like to cut Medicare and Medicaid and drastically change Social Security payments to which we are entitled. If members of Congress received the benefits we as Americans receive.....they would be more simpathic to the plight of the average American. They simply cannot relate. They simply cannot relate. Its time to change Congressional pension eligibility, pay raise conditions, and health care coverage. We can do this....its time for a Constitutional Amendment relative to Congressional representatives.
I don't think they can get the votes to impeach if obama invokes the 14th amendment in the name of national security. If it goes to the supreme court in terms of legality ...they would have to choose to declare it unconstitutional at the risk of discarding what it expressly says in the 14th amendment and to the great peril of the union and more...the conservative majority in the court that is.
We the People should demand a Constitutional Amendment outlining Congressional Representatives pay, health care and pension elgibility!!!! Join me and spread the word.
We are their employers!!!! I wonder if they can be recalled?
The Constitution supercedes any law declaring that Congress shall raise the debt ceiling
watching the movie "They Live" as I go to bed and you know...it made me wonder for a split second: Are house republicans aliens from outer-space? lol.
Grateful, OMG, I thought the same thing today, I wonder if they came back on the space ship when astronaut walked on the moon, I really think they are space creatures..
don't insult space creatures, please.
I have said that this whole crisis is a made up crisis by the Republicans. It is all about 2012, where McConnell said his main goal, his only goal was to make this President a one term President. You would think that his main goal would be to make this economy stronger, and help people fine jobs. From day one their agenda have been all about sabotaging this economy. Thinking that if the economy is in bad shape then the voters will say let put the Republicans in charge. Well that happen in 2010, and what have they done? If we the voters were to get rid of as many Republicans ,specially those Tea-Republicans, and put some sensible people in office who will put the country first, not some pledge they sign to some guy to never raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires. And put someone in office who can sit down and compromise with one another for the good of the country. If Pelosi was still Speaker the debt ceiling would have been raised, providing McConnell and his gang didn't filibuster it. Over 100 times they filibust. A Senate record. But if Pelosi was Speaker, she and the President would be working on doing something about jobs, would be trying to strenghten this economy. And yes, working on bringing down the national debt. But poll after poll says jobs are number one, and I want someone to name one thing the Republicas have done about jobs. As I said this debt ceiling is a made up crisis belonging to the Republican Party. The blame for it all lies with Boehner, Canter, McConnell and the Republican Party.
I have said many times, the only thing that the Thugs have done since they got in office was attack women, education, seniors, our military, the disabled, and OBAMA. That was always their goal. They care spit about America or their fellow Americans. The TEA Baggers were elected to bring this country down, and folks they could get the job done, if you don't excerise your right to vote. Look at what is happening in all the states that elected Thug governors. They are taking away our rights and they are doing it quickly. They will never vote YES on term limits for themselves so we have to do it for them. Michele Bachmann has never presented anything in the House and she is running for President, what a joke. The people of MN need to get her out of the House, and out of the public spotlight. This woman is dangerous. Spittal throwing, rabid Joe Walsh needs to be recalled. I am sick to death of all the "moral family values" these thugs try to shove down our throats for OUR OWN GOOD. Time to rid the HOUSE and SENATE of all the ground up tea.
Time to vote straight DEMOCRAT
I just want to say I love your show. I watch it every night. I love the way that you explain it to the american people so plain. And so far everything that you have said about the republicans have truly came true. I will be glad when this debt crisis is over. John Boehenor has sold his soul to the tea party. Eric Cantor is on the side line waiting on the speaker job. I have never seen so much dysfunctional group of people in my life. Here we are 3 days when the country will go into default, and congress is playing with the country. The freshman tea party are in the congress and do not know how to govern. This is so sad. I tell you what when election time come, I hope that the country will vote the tea party out of congress. I pray for The president everyday. Because you can't govern with these set of people. All they think about is the rich and themselves and trying to make sure that they have a job in the next election. I am a disable person. And i am in the poor catorgory, and yes i need my social sercurity check. I don't have it like they do. And i am sure that most of the country is in the same shape that i am in. So Lawerence please keep up the good work letting the american people know how fake some of these republicans are. The teaparty doesn't seem to understand what lies before us. So sad. I just wish the president do the 14th amendment and lets's move on. President Obama have been over generous to the republicans, And they still won't move. The Republicans have sold their souls
to the Tax pledge it's just pitful. So keep us inform lawerence. God Bless America, because we sure gonna need it.
If we refuse to do our jobs what happens? That's right you get fired.
Has there ever been a bigger bunch of incompetents in one group, with the exeption of the Italian Army in WW ll (no offense) than the tea party.I doubt it.They live in their fantasy world and dream of fame.The bad thing is that the repub leadership if thats what you call them keeps catering to them.They need to go sit in a corner somewhere and wait to be defeated in 2012.They keep harping that the budget should be run like a family budget.How many families do you know that have been paying for two wars left over by a previous family.Lets hope the headlines in Nov.2012 read; Dems take control of House and Senate.
Here's my theory...that the teabaggers and Repubs. want to force this all to the brink, and the brink being that Prez. Obama has to invoke the 14th Amendment. It has been floated around that this invocation might even be an impeachable offense. But what the Repubs. and reactionaries want to be able to say is--"big government", etc.
Even Fareed Zakaria said last night he hopes Obama invokes the 14th A.
This whole debacle isn't just that the economy and the people are being held "hostage." It is that the morons are playing Russian Roulette with people's lives, not just in the U.S. but globally.
It is no theory but a fact that the Baggers grand plan is to force Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment then impeach when he does.
Nah ... it's just a theory. These guys don't have a clue what's actually in the constitution ... they just pretend they do. This came out of left field as far as they're concerned ... now they'll try anything to block it. I do believe there is legal president for it's use as well as legal (supreme court) definitions. Either way, let them fight it out.
Thanks GA Girl. My point was, who is talking about that? It's like watching a bunch of ambulance chasers and lookey-loos. Hourly tactical maneuvering...and it is even more frustrating to watch, since the Repubs. and their cohorts have had a strategy all along.
If Obama gets rolled this time, he and any future President will get rolled again if the other party holds either house. To protect his Presidency, and the Office, he needs to insist on a clean bill, or invoke the 14th amendment. Since both houses of congress would be required to challenge him in the courts, no case could go forward. I'm sure the house would then impeach, but it would be a cold day that the senate democrats would vote to convict. It's time to quit appeasing and negotiating. The repubs are anti-American terrorists.
Somehow, the president and the senate democrats have confused the word compromise with the word capitulate.
If nothing else, we now know the flaws of a two-party system and how easy it is to derail the democratic process.
I no longer have any faith in elected officials; people elected to legislate for the prosperity of the country, with fairness and forethought, don't exist anymore.
If nothing else, we now know the flaws of a two-party system and how easy it is to derail the democratic process.
I no longer have any faith in elected officials; people elected to legislate for the prosperity of the country, with fairness and forethought, don't exist anymore.
Lawrence O'D said weeks ago: "Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to". Harry Reid said the same thing as he left Nancy Pelosi's office this afternoon.
We have to wait and see if the time factor will force deal today.
the Last Word is the best thing on MSNBC!!