Treasury Secretary addresses speculation he might have left job after debt ceiling negotiations; "I live for this work"

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the Senate is cancelling its 4th of July recess to focus on fixing the national debt. But, as Chip Reid reports, there's not a lot Congress can do until the White House and Republican leaders resolve their impasse over taxes.

The Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David. H. Petraeus as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, turning over the nation’s intelligence operations to the man credited with turning back insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON -- Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell warned on Thursday that the contours of a debt ceiling deal being drawn up by lawmakers, including Democrats, was a "road map to disaster" that could risk thrusting the country back into recession.

The blunt Pennsylvania Democrat has been one of the party's most vocal advocates for strategic and continued government spending. On a conference call hosted by the Democratic National Committee, he castigated former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for arguing that President Obama's stimulus package hadn't worked.

But in making the argument that government intervention was necessary a necessary prop for a weak economy, Rendell took a sideswipe at members of his own party. Asked whether he was worried that a debt deal that included $2.4 trillion in cuts -- as envisioned by Republicans and Democrats -- could result in a double-dip recession, he didn't hold back.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announces plans to cancel the holiday recess to focus on the debt ceiling.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A senior White House adviser says Democrats and Republicans must "get out of their comfort zone" to avert a government default.

David Plouffe (pluff) acknowledges on NBC's "Today" show that President Barack Obama essentially is responsible for the economy. But he says the deep recession wasn't just "a run of bad luck," but rather the result of bad government policies by the preceding Republican administration.

He says no deficit reduction deal is likely as long as tax increases are ruled out. Asked if the Aug. 2 deadline is real, Plouffe says, "There's very little debate that that's going to change. We're in a danger zone now."

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More on Barack Obama

Rebecca Jarvis talks to Senior White House Adviser David Plouffe about the Congressional stalemate over hiking the debt ceiling.

He depicts GOP leaders as supporting tax breaks for jet-setting corporate executives at others' expense, and chides lawmakers for taking frequent recesses instead of staying in Washington to finish the job.

President Obama is sharply intensifying pressure on congressional Republicans in negotiations over the federal debt, depicting GOP leaders as supporting tax breaks for jet-setting corporate executives at the expense of college scholarships or medical research.

THE CANADIAN PRESS -- EDMONTON - Alberta's bottom line is looking less saggy, but critics say the province is getting financially fit by blind luck rather than through prudent planning.

Finance Minister Lloyd Snelgrove announced Wednesday that the province posted a $3.4-billion deficit in the fiscal year that ended March 31. That's $1.3 billion less than the projected deficit of $4.7 billion.

Snelgrove credited higher royalties from oilsands operations along with departmental cost cutting. The governing Conservatives are also stretching out some capital construction projects to save money.

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CBS News chief Washington correspondent and anchor of "Face the Nation" Bob Schieffer discusses President Obama's new approach toward debt negotiations, stating that the "president is on the war path with Congress."