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Obama: It’s Time to Talk Turkey (July 19)\r - With less than two weeks to go before the Aug. 2 debt ceiling deadline, President Obama returned to the bully pulpit Tuesday during the White House daily press briefing to urge lawmakers to support a "balanced approach" being proposed by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Group of Six, that represents "the potential for bipartisan consensus" that could end the impasse over spending cuts and raising the debt ceiling. Obama said that he hopes that tomorrow congressional leaders will be "prepared to start talking turkey and actually getting down to the hard business of crafting a plan that can move this forward in time for the Aug. 2 deadline that we’ve set forward."\r(Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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CBC: Not So Fast, Sir. (July 20)\r - For all the talk about how difficult it will be to convince Republicans to sign on to a debt limit agreement, little attention has been paid to the members of the minority caucuses, who are also going to need some convincing. The Congressional Black Caucus and the Asian-Pacific Islander and Hispanic caucuses held a joint news conference on Tuesday during which they made it pretty clear that they’re not going to support a deal that would reduce entitlements. “They shouldn’t even be on the table and we’re not going to do anything to bring further damage to vulnerable populations, many of whom have already suffered enough,” said CBC Chairman Emanuel Cleaver.\r(Photo: AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

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With 12 days to Go, Compromise Is in the Air (July 21) - House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) anticipates that a majority of Republicans will support some kind of compromise on raising the debt limit. "Frankly, I think it would be irresponsible on behalf of the Congress and the president not to be looking at back-up strategies for how to solve this problem," he told reporters Thursday. "At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to act."(Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Boehner Walks Away From Debt Limit Talks (July 22)\r - In dueling news conferences Friday evening, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that they were unable to reach a compromise on how to balance spending cuts and raise revenues -- Boehner chose to walk away from the negotiating table. Obama blamed the breakdown on "the seeming inability, particularly in the House of Representatives, to arrive at any kind of position that compromises any of their ideological preferences" and said that he expects congressional leaders to swiftly come up with plan to extend the debt ceiling into 2013. \r\r(Photo: AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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The Pressure Builds (July 23) - President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met for an hour with Republican and Democratic leadership Saturday, but no progress was made. Obama reiterated his opposition to a short-term extension of the debt ceiling because he believes that would cause a downgrade of the nation's credit rating, which would harm the economy and raise interest rates for everyone. House Speaker John Boehner said that House and Senate leaders would continue their efforts "to find a bipartisan solution to significantly reduce Washington spending and preserve the full faith and credit of the United States."(Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Boehner Says Obama's Focus Is on Re-Election (July 24) - House Speaker John Boehner criticized Obama Sunday, saying that the president is more concerned about re-election than the economy. "The president's worried about his next election, but my God, shouldn't we be worried about the country?" Boehner said on the same program. "I'm not worried about the next election. I told the president months ago: Forget about the next election!"(Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Boehner's Got a Plan (July 25) - House Speaker John Boehner met with the Republican conference Monday to present a two-step plan that would include cut $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and a $900 billion debt ceiling increase, but no revenue raises. President Obama has already stated that his only bottom line is that the debt ceiling be raised into 2013.\r(Photo: AP Photo/ABC, Fred Watkins)

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Obama and Boehner Hold Dueling News Conferences (July 25) - The president and the speaker of the House both took their debt ceiling arguments to the American people Monday evening, with Obama saying that "the American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government." In turn, John Boehner said: "The sad truth is that the president wanted a blank check six months ago, and he wants a blank check today."(Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Cantor to GOP: "Quit Grumbling"  (July 26) - It's no secret on Capitol Hill that Tea Party House Republicans have not liked any of the options for raising the debt limit presented so far and have pretty much said they’d be OK with a default. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who initially stoked the flames of a potential revolt, reportedly told the GOP conference  on Tuesday that "the debt limit vote sucks," but urged members to support Speaker John Boehner's proposal, which would raise the ceiling and includes trillions of dollars in spending cuts.(Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Do Over (July 27) - The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office announced Tuesday that it's $150 billion short of the promised $1 trillion in savings. The CBO said Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s plan also fell short of claims. But Reid's plans does save $1.35 trillion more than the Boehner plan, which is a victory for the Democrats. Boehner is now looking for additional cuts and support for the bill.(Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Vote Delayed (July 28) - GOP leaders in the house postponed a vote on the debt ceiling bill put forth by Speaker John Boehner possibly because the bill doesn't have the votes needed to pass. Prior to the announcement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "No Democrat will vote for a short-term Band-Aid that would put our economy at risk and put the nation back in this untenable situation a few short months from now." What happens next? Right about now, that's anyone's guess.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Another Obama Address (July 29) - President Obama urged lawmakers Friday to reach an agreement on the debt ceiling that he can sign by the Aug. 2 deadline. (Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Photo By Photo: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

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Here We Go Again (July 30) - In a rare Saturday session, the House roundly defeated Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt ceiling proposal, which includes approximately $2.4 trillion in cuts and would raise the nation's credit limit through 2012. The White House is now working with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to hash out a deal.(Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Compromise! (July 31) - President Obama announced a historic agreement Sunday night that would avert the nation's first-ever financial default. The cost of the compromise needed to raise the federal debt ceiling likely will inflict more fiscal pain on states still struggling to recover from the recession and the end of federal stimulus spending.(Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Photo By Photo: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

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Nearly There (Aug. 1) - The House of Representatives finally passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling by a vote of 269 to 161. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona), who has been recovering from gunshot wounds, made a triumphant return to the chamber to vote for the bill. Only 14 Congressional Black Caucus members, including Republican Rep. Allen West, supported the measure. A vote is scheduled in the Senate for Tuesday.(Photo: AP Photo/House Television)

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Today Is the Day (Aug. 2) - Expected passage of a debt limit bill in the Senate sends the bill to President Obama, averting a potentially disastrous, first-ever government default and making a down payment toward taming out-of-control budget deficits. (Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)