It's another busy week in DC, with continuing efforts to reach immigration reform, the confirmation of Chuck Hagel in the balance, and another set of negotiations over taxes and "sequester" cuts on the horizon. Jake Tapper, CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent and author of The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor, discusses the latest.

At 1 p.m. Friday afternoon, President Obama will make his first comments on economic policy since the election. The president is expected to address the "fiscal cliff" the nation will face in January.

Members of Congress won't see their paychecks shrink after massive scheduled spending cuts go into effect in 2013, but the police on Capitol Hill will.

Mandatory spending cuts are on the horizon, and the party of fiscal discipline doesn't do itself any favors by running from them.

Speaker Boehner has signaled support for the payroll tax cut extension, but it doesn't address his problem: whether his own caucus will go along with him

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is expected to announce plans this week to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Pentagon's budget. The cuts, precipitated by both the United States' fiscal situation and a deal passed to raise the debt ceiling last summer, will shrink the military so it will no longer be able to sustain two ground wars at once. The Pentagon will trim about $450 billion, or about 8 percent of its budget. However, it may be forced to cut an additional $500 billion if lawmakers on Capitol Hill go through with deeper reductions. Defense hawks say cutting $1 trillion from the Pentagon's budget would have a deleterious impact on national security.

As evidenced by the Congressional debt panel's failure, MF Global's $600 million missing investor funds, and lagging employment numbers, the U.S. has a long way to go in terms of solving the economic problems that created the 2008 financial crisis. And there are plenty of potential pitfalls abroad — China's inflation rate is at 10 percent, and the euro zone's ongoing debt crisis. Yet, there are bright spots with many manufacturing, energy, and tech sector jobs growing.

Should the deficit reduction super committee fail to cut at least $1.2 trillion in spending, a trigger will do it for them, taking an axe to defense spending while largely sparing entitlement programs.

On August 1, Larry Bucshon, a freshman GOP representative from Indiana’s Eighth Congressional District, joined the majority of his caucus to vote in favor of raising the debt ceiling in exchange for a package of spending cuts and the promise of more to come.

The twelve-member joint Congressional "super committee" that has been tasked with creating a deficit reduction plan that both Republicans and Democrats can stomach — by Thanksgiving, no less — has a tough path ahead. It's a goal that seemed impossible for President Obama and Congressional leaders to achieve, just last month. Can the committee succeed where others failed?

Congress has a super committee, and we're looking for our own. Do you have an interest in the issues, and the problem-solving skills to tackle them? While politicians in Washington haggle over spending cuts and new tax revenues, we want to look at the solutions put together by regular Americans. Over the next few months as 12 members of Congress and the Senate meet, we'll also be covering some of the possible solutions for the country's debt challenges. We need your help. Fill out the questionnaire below and you could get chosen to help The Takeaway, The Brian Lehrer Show and It's A Free Country try and solve our nation's problems. 

When it comes to divvying up tax revenue, states with richer citizens end up footing the bill for those with lower per capita income.

On the heels of the debt ceiling crisis, Congress has established a "super committee" to find ways to reduce America's debt.  The twelve-member committee began work on debt-reduction strategies this week, aiming to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion by Thanksgiving of this year. But as lawmakers lock horns over where to find spending cuts, we've been asking our listeners for suggestions on how to fix the economy. One suggestion our listeners had was to boost housing prices.

Congress has named the first few picks for the deficit reduction “super committee.” It’s A Free Country takes a look at some of the people charged with determining where to cut $1.5 trillion out of the nations budget over the next ten years.