August 01, 2011 06:47 AM UTC

Tentative Debt-Ceiling Deal Announced

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• by: Colorado Pols

Politico Sunday evening:

With their backs to the wall, the White House and congressional leaders reached a landmark debt ceiling deal Sunday night after weeks of confrontation that pushed the nation to the brink of default and dramatized the huge divide between the Republican House and President Barack Obama.

Obama won greater certainty in managing the Treasury’s borrowing needs and committed himself to at least $2.4 trillion in new deficit reduction but without ever getting any concession from the GOP on accepting new tax revenues as part of the debt equation…

“Is this the deal I would have preferred? No,” Obama said candidly in announcing the agreement. “We could have made the tough choices required on entitlement reform and tax reform right now rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need … and ensures that will we not face this same crisis in six months or eight months or twelve months.”

Don’t miss Speaker John Boehner’s kick-ass “Holding President Obama Accountable” slideshow after the jump: though as you can expect, the White House has a slightly different take on today’s deal. It’s safe to say we’ll be debating the winners and losers of these weeks of debt-ceiling hot air a lot–assuming this really is the end of the crisis. Democrats are already complaining about onerous enforcement mechanisms for future cuts in this bill, while the “Tea Party”…well, forget it. They were never going to be happy short of Washington literally on fire.

But after all you’ve been through in the last few weeks, it might be prudent keep the default-dodging celebrations in check until a bill actually arrives on the President’s desk.