The Debt Ceiling Crisis legislation is facing attacks from the Left and the Right, but when one looks at it objectively, it is a good deal in a broad sense, while certainly not perfect.
What are the advantages of the legislation?
1. It avoids another crisis over the debt ceiling until early 2013, when hopefully, the Democrats might control both houses of Congress and the White House.
2. It fully protects Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from budget cuts in 2012.
3. It provides real budget cuts in 2012 and 2013 for defense spending, along with equivalent cuts in discretionary domestic spending, which makes it a balanced agreement.
4. It only cuts a little over $20 billion in discretionary domestic spending in 2012, with much of the real budget cuts due in the long run, in 2013 and beyond.
5. The likelihood of a tax increase on the wealthy and corporations is growing, as the President can veto any change before 2013, and if he wins, can continue to prevent the Bush tax cuts from being continued, making it a national campaign issue in 2012, along with protection of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
6. Pell grants for college students will not be affected, which was an important goal for President Obama.
Of course, there are disadvantages including no tax increases on the rich and corporations in the interim; unemployment compensation extensions are denied, highly regrettable; the requirement of a vote on a balanced budget constitutional amendment, although it will not pass; and the formation of a twelve member bipartisan deficit reduction commission, which is highly unlikely to come up with a compromise, but which would then trigger automatic budget cuts of $1.2 to $1.5 trillion, but affecting 2013 and beyond, with defense half of the budget cuts, and none from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
So while there are problems with the deal, it resolves the issue of the debt ceiling after a long, hard struggle, and hopefully, the Republican Party will be blamed for the crisis, and the fact that the Tea Party people basically held the country hostage for months over this, and it will reverberate against them in November 2012!
The bill has just passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 269-161, with three fourths of the Republicans voting for it, and just half of the Democrats, so what it means is that the Tea Party Movement in the GOP and the progressive left in the Democratic Party united against it, with the moderate center left and right supporting what is to be looked at as the best deal that could be enacted in the midst of this economic crisis. There will be much debate and analysis over time about the history of this crisis, but under the circumstances, there is certainly a sigh of relief that it is over, and there will be no default!
But the battle for the progressive future must now be led by Barack Obama, with no more concessions to the Republicans as we enter the year 2012 and beyond!