Last Night's Budget Talks Got Us Nowhere

With just three weeks to go until the US defaults on its debt, White House and congressional officials are planning to resume talks today after a disappointing session yesterday, reports the Washington Post. Last night's 75-minute talks went nowhere, with both sides digging in to their positions and adjourning without agreement. “If not now, when?” was President Obama's theme in last night's negotiations. Obama is scheduled to hold a press conference before today's negotiations begin.

After John Boehner announced that a larger deal was dead Saturday, Republicans concentrated on a "contingency plan" to reach a temporary deal on the debt ceiling—but the White House continued to work for a large, long-term solution. “The president pushed to do something real and not just kick the can down the road,” according to a senior administration official. “He said he was ready, willing, and able to make the hard choices and hoped they would join him.” (More debt ceiling stories.)