USA TODAY: …In the debate over raising the government’s debt ceiling, President Obama has seen his approval rating fall to a new low, his political adeptness questioned and his liberal base enraged over compromises he made on line-in-the-sand issues such as protecting Medicare from cuts.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has been weakened, too. He not only was forced to retreat from a legacy-making grand bargain, but he also had to pull his own plan from the House floor for revisions demanded by conservative Tea Party members…
Meanwhile, there’s the regular process of funding the government, which largely has been set aside as the Capitol focused on averting a debt disaster. By the time the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, Congress has to pass appropriation bills or negotiate a continuing resolution to fund government operations. Disputes over the last such spending bill in April brought the government to the brink of a shutdown… (more)
