Federal Deficit | featured news

President Barack Obama pressed his case Wednesday that tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans must be ended as part of a deficit deal, which he said he believed Republicans and Democrats would reach.

President Obama meets with Senate leaders, but no one wants to back away from tough stances on taxes. Debt-reduction talks between congressional leaders and the White House entered a crucial phase Monday, with no clear framework for resolving the deadlock over taxes and spending and a deadline for a potential federal default fast approaching.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss "the status of the negotiations to find common ground on a balanced approach to deficit reduction," according to the White House.

An unusual round of golf won't solve the Republican-Democratic budget battles, but it could lead to better relations between the White House and Congress. The president prefers a laid-back round on a Sunday morning.

Congressional negotiators from both parties are set to sit down Thursday afternoon for their latest meeting on deficit reduction with Vice President Biden. The huddle, which begins at 1 p.m. at the Capitol, marks the group’s fifth meeting. On the agenda: the budget process, discretionary spending and the contentious issue of revenue. Here are some things to keep an eye on as the talks convene.

The United States probably wouldn't be able to maintain its prized AAA sovereign ratings status if it suffered even a "technical" default on its debt, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday.

Ratings agency Moody's warned on Thursday it would consider cutting the United States' coveted top-notch credit rating if the White House and Congress do not make progress by mid-July in talks to raise the debt limit.

House Republicans engineer the defeat of their own proposed $2.4 trillion increase in the debt limit because it did not come accompanied by spending cuts.

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The United States has not seen a balanced budget since 2001. Although private banks in the U.S. hold the majority of the country’s debt, over 52% according to MSNBC, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board estimate that foreign governments hold 4.4 trillion of the country’s $14 trillion debt in Treasury securities.

Republican lawmakers are stepping up pressure on the Obama administration to craft a Plan B just in case budget talks fall through and the debt ceiling remains frozen past the Aug. 2 deadline Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has set.