White House, Reid, McConnell: Deal on Debt Ceiling

Leaders of both parties have reached agreement on a debt ceiling deal, President Obama said tonight.

He outlined a few key points in the deal:

-- It cuts1 trillion in spending over 10 years, although Obama said there are no 'abrupt' cuts.
-- The deal has a bipartisan committee of Congress report back by November with a proposal to further reduce the deficit. That plan will then go before Congress for an up or down vote. Obama said everything would be on the table, and tough cuts would automatically go into effect if they don't act.
--He didn't say how long the deal was for, but did mention it was longer than 12 monhts.

Obama said it wasn't the deal he would have preferred, adding he thought they could have made tough choices now on entitlements and tax reform (reporter's commentary: then what were they arguing about?). He also said he still thinks wealthiest Americans and some corporations should be asked to help out (in other words, closing tax loopholes and tax increases).