Federal Deficit, Spending Cuts | featured news

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.

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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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.

A senior banking regulator urged Congress to raise the federal debt ceiling to prevent a "calamitous" government debt default.

Republicans intend to stage a vote in the House next week on legislation to raise the nation's debt limit without requiring spending cuts, a measure expected to fail.

Top congressional Republicans on Sunday suggested they could compromise on the two biggest issues -- healthcare and taxes -- that stand in the way of a deal to get the United States' debt under control.

Well, no one can doubt anymore that Republicans are petrified that the Medicare cuts in Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget might cost them the 26th congressional district in New York, long a safe Republican seat, in the May 24 special election. It’s a classic technique in politics that if your opponent has found an issue that’s working against you, you turn the tables and declare your opponent’s position to be as bad as yours, or worse.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned in a letter to Congress that failure to raise the $14.294 trillion debt ceiling would drive up interest rates, push down household wealth, put more pressure on federal entitlement programs and cause a double-dip recession.

Republicans planned sharp cuts to foreign aid and education on Wednesday, while Democrats weighed a tax hike on millionaires, highlighting the yawning divide between the two parties in the budget debate.