Rather they are in the context, for example, of the sequestration discussion.
Other Republicans insist they can trade some easing of the sequestration for entitlement cuts.
The administration has been on thin ice with some of its claims about the impact of the sequestration cuts.
At home, Obama is grappling with the crippling effects of the sequestration, and with a new Secretary of Defense whose past statements regarding Israel have been widely criticized.
A proposal to restart tours of the White House, which has become an unlikely symbol of the sequestration cuts, was rejected.
"We are just beginning to see impacts of the sequestration that came into effect last Friday," she said.
Simply accepting the automatic spending cuts of the sequestration, without modification, could look like more dysfunctional politics, too.
But some White House officials consider the Sept. 30 date the last chance to cancel a portion of the sequestration cuts before the 2014 midterm elections.
That's when you might see the medical devices tax fall (part of Obamacare law) and some other compromise made in exchange for relaxing some of the sequestration cuts.
If you want to see an estimate of a state-by-state impact of the sequestration scheduled to take effect March 1, click here.
The date of bankruptcy within the meaning of these laws is that of the adjudication or making of the sequestration or receiving order, respectively.
