Who's who in the US debt crisis

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) has said, 'A plan to decimate Social Security, Medicare, and every other federal benefit plan, while protecting hundreds of billions of dollars in special-interest tax breaks, is not a serious plan.' He has been working with Senate Republican leaders on a 'fallback plan' that, at a minimum, would allow the debt ceiling to be raised.

PHOTO: J. Scott Applewhite/AP