Democrats

The debt ceiling debate is raging inside the Beltway, but many Americans are tuning it out. And among those paying attention, a majority would ignore the consequences and let the U.S. default. Find out who they'd chose to stiff first -- and tell us who you think the country shouldn't pay if it has to skip out on some of its obligations.

It's true that Social Security paid out more than it collected in 2010. But the Trust Fund owns $2.6 trillion in Treasury bonds, and though some people may claim those holdings are an illusion, they aren't. Still, there are some fairly painless steps we could take to shore up the program's balance sheet for the long term.

The Tea Party-led Republican Party has already won the battle to cut this year's federal budget, and it has announced a plan to dismantle Medicare. Is a proposal to cut Social Security payments next?

Unless lawmakers can agree on budget legislation to keep the federal government running, a shutdown at midnight Friday looms. If it happens, there will be a few clear winners, some who break even and a whole lot of losers.

The U.S. Senate is schedule to vote Tuesday on a bill that would repeal an unpopular tax-reporting requirement enacted as part of last year's health-care law. The House of Representatives approved the bill last month.

The Republicans are winning this year's budget battle: Discretionary spending will decrease. But this is hardly the time for the GOP to take a victory lap: Next, the GOP will have to lower unemployment and improve the average American's daily life -- two areas where the party has historically come up short.

The U.S. set the forces of globalization in motion, and now more than ever, it's clear we're suffering the consequences: high unemployment, stagnant or declining incomes, and rising costs for goods. Can the policies of the surging Tea Party provide solutions, or will they just make matters worse?

Right now, everything is coming up roses for the Republican Party: It's won the first round of the budget battle, and if the GOP%u2019s momentum continues, the new federal budget will reflect its spending-reduction priorities, not the Democrats'. Even so, if the two parties can agree on a budget, the greater danger, a potentially market-impacting government shutdown, will have been averted.

Here we go again: Congressional Republicans and White House Democrats are engaging in a game of rhetorical warfare over the budget. If the parties don't agree on a plan by March 4, the federal government could close, rattling stock and bond markets.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama didn't shy away from tackling the ongoing questions about the health care reform law head on. And though he opened with a joke, he made it clear that while he's serious about repairing any flaws in the law, repeal is not an option.