Ezra Klein writes that To govern responsibly, the White House will need to negotiate like Republicans. Not only do I agree, I said so from the beginning of Obama's Presidency. I developed my thoughts further in my Madman Political Bargaining Series. Enough with the 'I told you sos.' Here's Ezra:

Just as Republicans planted a trigger for 2011 that ensures spending cuts, Democrats should use the Bush tax cuts as a trigger in 2012 to force revenue. Which is not to say they should campaign for raising taxes. They should campaign against an outdated, inefficient, unfair tax code as well as the Washington way of leaving hard problems for somebody else to handle.

[MORE . . .]

Remember this?

"Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not, and a way that Bill Clinton did not," he said, describing Reagan as appealing to a sentiment that, "We want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing." - Barack Obama, January 2008

President Obama wishes he could do what Bill Clinton did at this point. Dreams of "transformation" are long gone. Some people are noticing how good Clinton looks in comparison:

Nonsense:

The agreement removes the threat of default and lowers the prospect of using the debt limit as an instrument of coercion. [. . .]

Beneath all the bluster, the prospects for compromise on broader and deeper reforms are better than they have been in years. [. . .]

The government’s ability to make smart, long-term budget choices has long been broken. This gives us a chance to fix it. [. . .]

[B]y locking in long-term savings, Congress will have more room in the fall to pass additional short-term measures to strengthen the economy — such as extending the payroll tax cut, which provides an average of a thousand dollars to the after-tax incomes of working Americans; extending unemployment benefits; and financing infrastructure investments.

Fool? Knave? Both?

Speaking for me only

The ink isn't even dry yet on the horrid compromise budget bill which was supposed to shield Medicare beneficiaries, but already there's renewed talk of raising the eligibility age for Medicare, which now likely will happen since Obama has already said it's okay with him. It will probably be one of the first things the gang of 12 congressional henchman will agree on.

The Wall St. Journal today: [More...]

How's everybody tonight?

Open Thread.

They passed 60 votes, the Debt Ceiling bill is passed. Dems voting no: Sen. Harkin and Lautenberg. Dems voting yes included Udall, Bennett, Boxer, Feinstein and Franken.

The Senate votes at noon on the debt bill. 60 votes are needed. Obama will speak at 12:15.

You can watch the vote here on C-Span2 and Obama on C-Span.

The White House Fact Sheet on the bill is here.

Open Thread.

My early predictions for who will be on the Super Catfood Commission:

Republicans - House - Cantor, Ryan, Camp (Chairman of Ways and Means), ; Senate - Kyl, Alexander, Barasso.

Democrats = House - Clyburn, Van Hollen, Hoyer; Senate - Baucus, Conrad, Durbin.

The House of Representatives has passed the deficit reduction bill. The vote: 269 to 161.

The Senate will vote tomorrow.

Kudos to Colorado Congresswoman Diana DeGette for voting against the bill. Same for Dennis Kucinich, Barney Frank, Bobby Scott, John Conyers, Charlie Rangel and Zoe Lofgran.

Nancy Pelosi voted for the bill.

provided by Atrios - "And This Play Is (almost) Over Just In Time For August. Presumably a shark will kill a white woman to celebrate."

Sorry white women, but that's funny. I would have added "blonde" if it were my line.

Open Thread.

Tired of reading bullet points and opinions as to what's in the budget deal? Here's the Congressional link to the text of of the 74 page bill.

Medicare isn't mentioned until page 51. All it says is: [More...]

Remember throwing things at your computer will not actually hit him.

Now that the Beltway is satiated with their Debt Ceiling Follies, consider this:

Stocks on Wall Street briefly followed European and Asian financial markets higher Monday, but any relief over the last-minute agreement on a framework in Washington to raise the United States debt limit was short-lived. After a short burst that put the three main Wall Street indexes up more than 1 percent, they turned negative as the reality of the challenges ahead for the recovery caught up with investors.

The dip coincided with the release of new data that showed American manufacturing growing more slowly. [. . .] “Now that the debt-ceiling deal, assuming it passes, has averted an imminent catastrophe, attention can return to the underlying state of the economy,” said Nigel Gault, the IHS Global Insight chief United States economist. “The news there isn’t good.”

(Emphasis supplied.) Which explains why we are cutting government spending of course. Insanity from the VSP.

Speaking for me only