Senate Passes Debt Ceiling Bill

Well, the deal is done and it goes to the president for his signature. The vote was 74-26, and the bill raises the debt ceiling while cutting the deficit by $2.1 trillion over the next decade...without the huge tax increases the president and the Democrats wanted.

It's a victory of sorts, but only a partial one. It hands President Obama a brand new credit card with a higher limit, most of the cuts are backloaded and nowhere near as substantial as they should have been. There will be bloody fights over the future cuts the so-called 'super committee ' of six Republicans and six Democrats are mandated to come up with, and the whole arrangement kicks things down the road until after the 2012 elections.

On the plus side, there are cuts so it's a step in the right direction, Harry Reid (and to an extent, the president) came out of this weakened, and the Tea Party made their influence felt. Not only that, but cut, cap and balance was passed by the Republicans in the House and every Republican in the Senate, a preview of better days to come.

Because the essence of this is exactly what Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said, along with several others, This problem is never going to get solved as long as President Obama is in office.The avoidance, disconnection and lack of leadership he's shown until the very end, when he was cornered with a take it or leave it proposition by McConnell is perfectly in sync with how the president has acted in office during his entire term.

The deal is hardly perfect, but in the end, the Republicans probably couldn't have gotten anything better. And they avoided the political trap of a shutdown that would have had the president deliberately not prioritizing spending so as to hold military families and seniors hostage and blame the Republicans for it.

On to the next battle.

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