Wow, that was fast! The White House has been quick to spin this bipartisan debt deal as a total win for everyone involved, because of course, nothing less than a total win could even be possible under President Obama's watch. According to the White House "Fact Sheet," posted last night, this deal removes the "Cloud of Uncertainty" surrounding the American economy until 2013, keeps all of the President's promises to his base, "Sets the Stage for Balanced Deficit Reduction" according to the President's values, and cures cancer, or something. Behold, the dumbfounding power of rhetoric:
Bipartisan Debt Deal: A Win for the Economy and Budget Discipline
- Removes the cloud of uncertainty over our economy at this critical time, by ensuring that no one will be able to use the threat of the nation’s first default now, or in only a few months, for political gain;
- Locks in a down payment on significant deficit reduction, with savings from both domestic and Pentagon spending, and is designed to protect crucial investments like aid for college students;
- Establishes a bipartisan process to seek a balanced approach to larger deficit reduction through entitlement and tax reform;
- Deploys an enforcement mechanism that gives all sides an incentive to reach bipartisan compromise on historic deficit reduction, while protecting Social Security, Medicare beneficiaries and low-income programs;
- Stays true to the President’s commitment to shared sacrifice by preventing the middle class, seniors and those who are most vulnerable from shouldering the burden of deficit reduction. The President did not agree to any entitlement reforms outside of the context of a bipartisan committee process where tax reform will be on the table and the President will insist on shared sacrifice from the most well-off and those with the most indefensible tax breaks. ...