What's blocking the White House plan to mail out stimulus checks? Three things: Congress pushback, cabinet resistance, and that pesky deficit problem nobody wants to talk about.

The administration's affordability push hits reality. Lawmakers aren't rubber-stamping this one. Cabinet members are raising eyebrows. And the math? It doesn't exactly add up when you're already swimming in red ink.

Classic Washington gridlock meets fiscal reality. The checks might be popular, but funding them is another story entirely.