A 16,000 acre wildfire blazing in the Black Forest of Colorado has burned more than 485 homes and taken two lives, but the efforts of firefighters may be hindered by budget disagreements in Washington.

On June 13, the tech-savvy pranksters at Americans for Tax Fairness and the San Francisco Light Projection Team projected the image above on the building hosting Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco.

USAction is circulating a sign-on letter opposing House spending bills that would increase defense spending and cut domestic programs. The letter is open to national, state, and local organizations through June 25.

President Obama has already issued a veto threat against two House spending bills for these reasons. The Center for Effective Government is among the organizations that have signed the letter.

Although federal budget deficits are on the wane, Republicans in Congress are still playing politics with the debt ceiling. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has demanded additional spending cuts as a condition for another debt ceiling increase.

Are we really on the road to another debt ceiling crisis? How serious is this?