how conservatives and liberals think this country should raise and spend its money is a very, very valid discussion to have. sadly, that s not the one we re having. thanks to both of you, and solar and political economy in the american enterprise institute. he s the author of a dream is not dead, but populism could kill it. jennifer reuben is an opinion writer at the washington post, and msnbc political analyst host of the new podcast, jen reuben s green room. all right, straight ahead, we ll continue our breaking news coverage of the debt ceiling negotiations, which are ongoing right now. i ll be joined by congressman lloyd doggett, democrat of texas, and a member of the budget committee, as well as congressman adam smith, democrat of washington, and ranking member of the armed services committee. another hour of velshi begins right now. of velshi begin right now. and good morning to you, it is saturday may the 27th, i m ali velshi, the full faith and credit of the united
could affect all of us, including our own mail delivery. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. jtsdzer. it all begins in iowa. right now many of the republican presidential candidates are in that state, a state that holds the lead-off contest in 2012. they re working the crowds at the state fair before tomorrow s pivotal iowa straw poll. and they re taking direct aim at president obama s handling of the debt crisis and the u.s. economy. listen to some of the republican hopefuls, including sarah palin, who insists she still hasn t decided whether to run. i think the question should be asked, is the president responsible for the down grade? i would say yes. from the top, that leadership starts from the top. look what happened two weeks ago. when barack obama s back was against the wall. what did he do to try to scare americans to call their members of congress? he threatened social security recipients that their money wouldn t be there. he threatened medicare
mississippi river. our hearts go out to everybody downstream. this is monumental water. never been seen before. that man flilives in morganz louisiana, home of the morganza spillway. it now seems likely that sometime over the weekend the army corp of engineers will open that structure for the first time since 1973 lessening the force and volume of the mighty mississippi, thus lessening the flood risks to the downstream cities of baton rouge and new orleans. but the water s got to go somewhere, and that somewhere is farmland and swamps. bayous and hamlets to the west and south. talking thousands of homes, maybe 25,000 people at the mercy of a no-win situation. river is still rising everywhere you see an the crest is really taking its time, still almost a week away from vicksburg. it is supposed to crest may 19th. also we have new orleans here. that s about ten days away. may 23rd it is supposed to crest. and here is the morganza spillway. all right? right there. here s tha