There's very little positive to say about the deal reach today, except that it's better than default, and it's better than other possible deals. The details floating about earlier in the day were skimpy, but awful. The final deal seems to be better, though there are conflicting versions. It's not over yet, however, as one or both House caucuses might reject the deal.
Given a choice between shit or a shit sandwich, I think most people would take the latter. But it's not really something anyone would celebrate. Similarly, default is a worse option than the deal, but the deal is still bad in the absolute. We need more deficit spending now, not less. The economy is very weak, and the longer it stays weak, the bigger our long-term problems will become. We shouldn't be making big cuts to domestic discretionary programs, because they are already insufficient. We should be making more cuts the national security budget, and moving that money over to the domestic side. And so on.
It's crazy that we are even having this discussion.
Update 2011/08/01: Also, not a grand bargain, but no guarantees that the hostage-taking won't happen again with the 2012 and 2013 budgets. And some of the language in the spin from the White House is horrid.
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