Lowest level of spending since Eisenhower, says the President, just now breaking into regular programming on tv to make this announcement: The Congress and President are seeking balanced books. Have to ask wealthiest americans and corporations to pay more. Have to cut entitlements. Most important to get out your yellow highlighter: second part of agreement: By Nov, bipartisan committes formed right now will report back on which programs will be cut, which spendings will take place, and then, an up or down vote
Everything will be on the table
Tough cuts that both parties find objectional will go into effect
Is this the deal Obama preferred? No.
It is a compromise, “a down payment” on the debt. It avoids default and relieves cloud of uncertainty for Americans and for the world, which this mess of posturing and slaying with no dragon present, has caused across the world.
President says process was messy, and took far too long, and had bad impact on consumer and business confidence
He thanks both party leaders for finding compromise
But, most of all, President thanks American people, their tweets, letters, emails, faxes, are the ones who have forced the hands of the house esp and senate also to avoid default.
MOST IMPORTANT: this “agreement” is NOT voted in yet by Congress… already hearing roars and screams from various Congress people.
Just a very brief analyses: This appears to mean
stop gap measures have been taken
the deal is temporary
there will be much more bipartisan wrangling to cut more/rescind more up to Nov 2011
beware the ides of march and the forming of “committees” in order to create a new world
Medicare, SS, and other entitlements including billion dollars each year to BIA, Bureau of Indian Affairs for huge entitlements given for decades to hundreds of sovereign nation tribes, and Pell grants, (reportedly over 1B a year to University of Phoenix, for profit university, alone) and on and on.
Agreement has not been voted on. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, not sure American or other nations will overlook what happened here, in terms of banks poised to slam dunk raise interest rates on credit cards, up interest on unfixed rate mortgages, causing many small investors to lose traction in the markets, in fact tanking many of them in the last week as confidence plummeting in what the elected officials were doing, which seemed posturing to many, rather than statesmanship and problem solving.
Compromise will never likely please all. But it can be a spring board to better, if used well. We will see, and the electorate will vote the men and women of this Congress into or out of office accordingly. When all is said and done, though the monied have the loudest voices, the working class people outnumber them in votes, and the working class people have been the most vulnerable in all that has gone on recently and stealthwise economically over the last ten years. They are not teapartiers. They are just hard working people, often with children and elders to take care of, a mortgage upside down, a car on its last legs, a health issue, and great great hearts: they vote.