Is there anybody out there who feels good about the debt ceiling deal?
Yes, Washington was able to avert the risk of default and economic catastrophe in the nick of time. But no one is excited about the "bipartisan" debt bill, and why should they be?
I'm usually a glass-half-full kind of guy, but when it came to this whole debate, I figured all along — with only fleeting glimpses of hope — that they would do just enough to avert "another Washington-inflicted wound on America" (to borrow a phrase from President Obama's own Tuesday speech).
It's just enough to get by and not much of a solution despite the supposed $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next decade. The bill doesn't do as much as Americans hoped it would in terms of either cutting the deficit or reducing spending, and it again seems to just push the problem to the future. The stock market has so far been unimpressed, and ratings agencies may yet cut the United States' bond rating.
