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Debt Limit, Continuing Resolutions And DC Dealmaking

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The push for a deal on debt, debt-ceiling, default, shutdown. We’ll parse the state of play with top reporters.

From left, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., look to photographers as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Washington. (AP)
From left, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., look to photographers as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Washington. (AP)

In three days, the U.S. government will not have enough money to pay its bills.   First time in the nation’s history.  Democrats and Republicans are talking.  Both sides say they are trying. Really, really trying.  But so far, no deal.  Patience is waning. The American people are fed up.  A new poll shows 60 percent want to fire all the politicians. Time to clear the decks. The world’s watching, too.  The International Monetary Fund's Christine Lagarde warns American lawmakers they risk tipping the world into global recession. Up next On Point:  the clock ticks toward default.
-- Jane Clayson

Guests

Charles Babington, Covers Politics and Congress for the Associated Press. (@CBabington)

Susan Davis, Congressional Correspondent for USA Today. (@DaviSusan)

Michael Hirsh, Chief Correspondent for National Journal. (@MichaelPHirsh)

From The Reading List

USA Today: Senate takes control of budget, shutdown talks — "Senate Democratic leaders met Saturday afternoon at the White House with President Obama to plot strategy going forward. After the 75-minute meeting, neither the president nor the senators had any comment. The momentum shifted to the Senate as it became increasingly clear that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was unable to strike a deal with Obama on his own. Following a closed-door House GOP meeting Saturday morning, lawmakers acknowledged a diminished role to resolve the impasse."

AP: Reid: Soft-spoken, combative Obama partner vs. GOP — "Harry Reid, the soft-spoken but pugilistic Senate majority leader, didn't wait for White House officials to declare their view of high-stakes talks over the government shutdown and debt. Standing just outside the West Wing, the 73-year-old Nevadan gave reporters his assessment of a key House Republican offer last week: 'Not going to happen.' That blunt defiance caught administration officials off guard and contrasted with their vague statements later about the GOP's bid to extend the nation's borrowing powers for six weeks without fully reopening the government."

National Journal: Who, Exactly, Just Blinked in the Debt-Ceiling Showdown? -- "If you're wondering who just blinked first in the tense back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans over the government shutdown and debt-ceiling deadline, the answer is: It's a photo finish. In fact, both Speaker John Boehner and President Obama are blinking—that is, giving up ground—at nearly the same time. Picking up on hints from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Wednesday that the president was open to a short-term debt-ceiling increase, Boehner and the House Republican leadership obliged him. On Thursday morning, they came out of a meeting to announce they'd support "clean" legislation of the sort Obama wanted to raise the debt limit—but only for the next six weeks. Then, during that period, Boehner and his team said, the president needs to sit down and talk about concrete spending cuts and other issues."

This program aired on October 14, 2013.

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