US Debt Deal

The Senate should take “Cut, Cap, and Balance" (catchy title… the Democrats could use buzzier titles), which they narrowly defeated, modify it a bit (add defense cuts, restore some cuts to the poorest & neediest, remove the Bush-era tax breaks for incomes >$250k… ok, modify it a lot) and send it to a reconciliation committee. They did much more finagling to pass the health care bill. There is nothing wrong with a balanced budget amendment if it has exceptions for recessions (like now) and prohibits the drunken-sailor-with-a-credit-card spending seen in the previous admin.

This is looking ugly for the country. But if your explicit goal is to deprive the President of anything resembling a success, and thereby ensure his defeat in the next election (and if the economy crumbles, call it collateral damage and drive on), well, then sadly it’s looking pretty good.

Call it the “Cut, Cap, Balance, and Back-Slap” act. (DC works better with a little B-S).