the president said he wanted a deal by friday, so lawmakers met with him at the white house day after day after day. they took a break on friday, and the president pushed again. if washington operates as usual, and can t get anything done, let s at least avert armageddon. joining me now, white house budget director, mr. lou. thank you for being here. thank you, candy. we are told by sources since the white house meeting on thursday and this morning, there has been no progress. do you concur? a lot has been going on since the white house on thursday night. there has been activity, but has there been progress? there has been activity and progress on two fronts. there is substantial discussions going on in the senate between the two leaders to make sure at a minimum congress has a way to take action and avoid default on the u.s. debt. that s critical. we don t think it s enough. we think the president said clearly we should do as much as we can to reduce the defici