Will Christmas come early for Congress and a miraculous deal on the payroll tax cut extension be reached? According to CNN, House Republicans will hold a conference call at 5pm “amid indications of a possible deal to extend the payroll tax cut before it expires on January 1,” according to insiders familiar with the negotiations.

On Friday, Meet The Press host David Gregory promoted the idea that “the President got everything he wanted and it didn’t work,” in an appearance on Morning Joe, and Mediaite challenged the accuracy of that claim. Sunday morning, Gregory changed his tune, somewhat, while interviewing senior White House adviser David Plouffe for Meet The Press, playing the Mitch McConnell quote again, but heavily disclaiming his questions to Plouffe. Even when “working the ref” works, though, it doesn’t always really “work.”

In a moment sure to bring out the Abe Simpson in any member of the Professional Left™, Meet The Press host David Gregory appeared on Morning Joe to make the cockamamie pronouncement that Sen. Mitch McConnell said something which “resonated…that the President got everything he wanted and it didn’t work.”

The only problem with Gregory’s statement is that it’s complete balderdash. Balderdash, I tell you!

Barack Obama‘s presidency has inspired a certain racism amongst republicans and Tea Partiers who say, “Screw the country; We’re going to do what ever we can to get this black man out of here.” Talking with Piers Morgan last night, Freeman somberly suggested that republican anti-Obama goals are “a racist thing” that show “the weak, dark undersides of America.”

On Meet the Press today, David Gregory asked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell if Republicans working with Democrats in the newly-created “super committee” will be open to compromise solutions to stabilize the economy in the coming months.

Jon Stewart was electrified by President Obama’s jobs speech last week to a joint session of Congress. Giving his review tonight of the President’s attempt to get Congress on board for the American Jobs Act, Stewart wondered why President Obama had kept the rhetorical fire inside until now, concluding that perhaps the solution to our financial woes was switching to a “campaign-based economy,” making speeches and campaign props the center of the economy.

August is turning out to be a month dedicated in the media to hammering President Obama on his jobs policy– which, coincidentally, he has yet to release in any detail. On today’s Meet the Press, Robert Gibbs argued that the President had his hands tied by Congress on the jobs issue and that the economy was in too dire a situation to solve immediately, but host Savannah Guthrie continued to push him, reminding him polls showed the American people dissatisfied with the President’s performance and yearning for a concrete plan.

Former White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning to debate Karl Rove on job creation, but Rove didn’t stop at attacking Burton and President Obama. The former Bush Chief of Staff also lashed out at host Bret Baier for exposing the rigidity of the GOP presidential field by asking them if they would walk away from a deal with $10 in spending cuts for every $1 of tax revenue, telling Baier, “With all due respect, that was a lousy question for a debate.”

While the Tea Party is by and large considered right wing, that doesn’t mean it gets along with most Republicans, though tonight one of those blacklisted GOPers sent love to a group largely distrustful of him. On tonight’s John King USA, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told host John King that, no matter how much they may dislike him, “I love them” for helping them regain a sizable contingent in Congress.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took some time away from the ongoing debt negotiations in order to speak with Bob Schieffer. Although McConnell was sounding optimistic about the prospect of a deal being reached, Schieffer was still intrigued by the growing influence of the Tea Party and whether or not the entire Republican party was being held hostage by them?

As time slips by and Congress appears no closer to compromise on passing a budget, the threat of the nation’s credit rating experiencing a decline becomes far more concrete. On last night’s Follow the Money, host Eric Bolling appeared skeptical of the idea of Moody’s reducing America’s credit, and, sharing his “conspiracy theory” that Moody’s is colluding with Democrats to Ann Coulter, found her in complete agreement, calling for a House investigation if the credit rating falls.

President Obama is holding a press conference this morning which is almost entirely focused on the current negotiations with House Republicans over raising the debt ceiling and the larger issue of deficit spending. The Hill’s Sam Youngman asked the president about comments made by Senator Mitch McConnell that he views these negotiations through the prism of the politics of 2012. Obama ostensibly took the high road by pointing out he has to have thick skin, before also admitting that he doesn’t watch a lot of what is said about him on cable. Heresy!

The second the behind the scenes drama during yesterday’s budget meeting hit cable news, it inevitably became part of today’s Daily Show– and Jon Stewart delivered. Giving a full run-down of what allegedly went on, Stewart was blown away by how totally underwhelming Angry Obama seems to be, laying the smack down by “ending a meeting by scheduling another meeting,” and evening calling his own bluff by allegedly telling House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, “don’t call my bluff.”

Rep. Eric Cantor is a petulant child, and President Obama is the know-it-all teacher’s pet tattling that he refused to “eat his peas.” These are the headlines greeting America this morning– headlines which, given the financial guillotine Moody’s is dangling over America’s neck, read to some as rather shallow. The shock, sincere or not, unveils a naivete towards government in the American psyche that overlooks a harsh, but inescapable, reality: The media has turned Congress into a playground. Why are we surprised only children want to work there?

As debt negotiations between Democrats and Republicans intensify, it seems lawmakers are responding to the pressure in different ways. While reports suggest President Obama stormed out of a meeting yesterday, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill demonstrated her frustration with the process in a humorously loopy appearance on Morning Joe calling the Republican caucus in the House a “hot sloppy mess” and thinking some of her colleagues have become crazy.

The current negotiation between President Obama and House Republicans over raising the debt ceiling can, at times, be a difficult story to follow. The seeming disparity between discussions behind closed doors and public statements of pea-eating and reports of individuals storming out of those discussions leave any concerned citizen confused and frustrated. Thankfully, we national treasure Stephen Colbert, who last night effortlessly cut through the rhetoric and posturing to tell his audience what was really going on: this negotiation has the GOP’s nuts caught in a vise, but Sen. Mitch McConnell has a plan to cut them free.

As the budget talks heat up and the time to reach any deal necessitates compromise, many on the right are becoming disillusioned with the evolution of the new budget. Among these is Sarah Palin, who told Sean Hannity tonight that she thought Sen. Mitch McConnell‘s plan “makes no sense” and that now, more than evern, “we have to reload. We will not capitulate.”

Rush Limbaugh seemed to express some disappointment with Congressional Republicans hesitancy to pass a budget and then force President Obama to take responsibility for the consequences of accepting it or vetoing it. Instead, Rush concluded the “back-up plan” proposed by Senator Mitch McConnell was a result of Republicans being “scared to death” and eager to let Obama get all the blame for massive government spending.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke with Laura Ingraham to explain the rationale behind his controversial “back-up plan” to allow for the debt ceiling to be raised through a process where no Republicans would have to cast a vote in support of it. Although many view McConnell’s plan as a “strategic defeat,” McConnell attempted to explain why Republicans should at least appreciate the politics behind his plan.

On August 2nd, America could very well default on its debt. On tonight’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart reported on what Congress was up to instead– “re-fighting a lightbulb standards fight that we settled in 2007.” With Congress acting like “children” and the nation “three weeks away from having to park our country down the street so China can’t find it,” President Obama– or as Stewart called him, “Dad”– had to come and tell the nation’s legislators to “eat our peas.”

Although Republican Senator Mitch McConnell was slightly unsure whether any of his Republicans colleagues seriously don’t want to raise the debt ceiling, he was on much firmer ground regarding his own future political goals. On Fox News Sunday, Bret Baier asked him if he stands by his previous statement that “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.” McConnell confirmed that his goal remains unchanged.

Senate Minority Leader Republican Mitch McConnell discussed the debt ceiling negotiations with Bret Baier on Fox News Sunday. McConnell was in agreement with Speaker John Boehner’s decision not to support a large deficit deal, yet also made a curious assertion that none of his Republican colleagues have ever claimed they don’t want to raise the debt ceiling.

As Florida’s legislative session began yesterday, protesters across the state organized “Awake the State” rallies to protest the cuts Gov. Rick Scott’s budget proposals. One protest in Sarasota got a surprise guest in the form of Stephen King. The author gave a speech of support and railed against Scott, comparing he, Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker, and the “Tea Party guy” from his home state of Maine, Gov. Paul LePage, to “Larry, Curly, and Moe.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on Face the Nation and told host Bob Schieffer that now, when there is divided government and not one branch running all branches of government, is the perfect time to tackle entitlement reform. Unfortunately, in McConnell’s opinion, President Obama is not at all serious about wanting to do anything about it.

Last weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was a veritable font of interesting news stories and entertaining video clips from conservative thought leaders and prospective Republican presidential candidates. While those who play close attention to the event focused on the political differences between the personalities who took turns at the dais, tonight Jon Stewart focused on their commonalities — namely their hackneyed jabs towards President Obama.