Debt Crisis Stopped (For Now)

Parties Agree To Debt-Ceiling Deal, Pending Votes In Congress -- L.A. Times

Reporting from Washington — Senate Majority Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Sunday night that they had come to an agreement on a deal that would raise the federal debt limit and reduce the deficit.

In back-to-back speeches on the Senate floor, Reid (D-Nev.) called the compact an "historic, bipartisan compromise that ends this dangerous standoff," while McConnell (R-Ky.) said there was now a framework in place to "ensure significant cuts in Washington spending."

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My Comment: So .... President Obama and his Democrat allies have the money that they need to buy votes and constituents in 2012, and the Republicans can go to their base and claim that they are steering Washington in the right direction of attaining a balance budget.

Sighhh .... I (of course) do not see it that way. I only see more debt and promises that will be broken and/or forgotten when it comes to doing the necessary cuts in programs and entitlements. Expect a downgrade in American credit by rating agencies (Egan-Jones already has), and a further depreciation of the U.S. dollar (thank God I get paid in Canadian dollars).

And in the distance, we have Europe and its precarious financial situation. For a must read piece on the approaching storm clouds from Europe, read Ambrose Evans-Pritchard's commentary from The Telegraph.