President Obama, Congress Reach Private Backroom Debt Deal

 

So much for transparency, accountability, or even public input.

The top Senate leaders expressed optimism today that a deal will be reached to raise the nation's debt limit and avoid a default that could wreak calamity on the global economy.

After taking a procedural vote, the Senate is in recess. Furious negotiations are going on between the White House and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to reach a deal before Tuesday's deadline.

The outlines of the proposal on the table would raise the nation's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in two stages . . . . .

Ending a perilous stalemate, President Barack Obama announced agreement tonight with Republican congressional leaders on a compromise to avoid the nation's first-ever financial default. The deal would cut more than $2 trillion from federal spending over a decade.

Spending that (by the way) was on a massive increase already, so they're reducing the rate of increase more than they are reducing spending on existing programs and rates.

Default "would have had a devastating effect on our economy," Obama said at the White House, relaying the news to the American people and financial markets around the world. He thanked the leaders of both parties.

House Speaker John Boehner telephoned Obama at mid-evening to say the agreement had been struck, officials said.

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