President Obama this week announced his timetable to pull out US troops from Afghanistan, and his plan has been getting criticism from across the political spectrum, including our Left Right & Center panel. Also, any hope this week for a deal on the budget fell apart on Thursday when talks broke down on Capitol Hill. The White House has announced that President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders on Monday, in an effort to restart the negotiations. And this week the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, held a press conference where he downgraded the Fed's forecast of economic growth. Plus we discuss President Obama's order to withdraw 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the presidential candidacy of Jon Huntsman. (Chrystia Freeland sits in for Arianna Huffington.)
Banner image: President Obama addresses the nation on the way forward in Afghanistan