Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) says a grand bargain to cut $4 trillion and raise the nation's debt ceiling is not possible. 
 
 Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," the Senate's top Republican agreed with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that striking a grand bargain simply cannot happen because the White House is looking to increase revenue. 
 
 "It is because everything they've told me and the speaker is that to get a big package would require big tax increases in the middle of an economic situation that’s extraordinarily difficult with 9.2 percent unemployment – we think it’s a terrible idea, it's a job killer," McConnell said, when asked if it is impossible to get a large-scale deal. 
 
 McConnell said the recent uptick in unemployment should push lawmakers in Washington to strike a large deal without raising taxes. 

 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell got lots of flak when he said that his chief goal was to make President Barack Obama a one-term president. 
 
 On "Fox News Sunday" he stuck to that line - with caveats. 
 
 "Well that is true, that’s my single most important political goal, along with every active Republican in the country," McConnell said when asked about the quote. "But that’s in 2012. Our biggest goal for this year is to get this country straightened out, and you can’t get this country straightened out if you don’t do something about spending, about deficit, about debt and get this economy moving again. So, our goal is to have a robust vibrant economy that will benefit all Americans, and that’s why I think this debate we’re having right now is so important to our country’s future."
– Mitch McConnell is jumping right on John Boehner's pronouncement last night that a broad deal on the deficit is impossible, reports Politico. Appearing on Fox News Sunday this morning, the Senate's top Republican said the White House's insistence that a $4 trillion deal be accompanied by tax hikes doomed such a measure. "It is because everything they've told me and the speaker is that to get a big package would require big tax increases in the middle of an economic situation that’s extraordinarily difficult with 9.2 percent unemployment—we think it’s a terrible idea, it's a job killer," McConnell said. Click for McConnell's current thoughts on making Barack Obama a one-term president.