Nice to see that Obama and the leaders in Congress have hammered out a bill to raise the debt ceiling…an exercise which is kinda like me deciding I'm actually going to pay my American Express bill for all that stuff I already bought.
It's also nice that the deal was structured such that both sides will be able to simultaneously claim that they scored an enormous victory and that they got screwed. I love it when politicians play the victory card with one hand and the victim card with the other.
Of course, there's still the minor technicality of two chambers of Congress actually voting to pass the damned bill but I'm sure that's just a formality. I can't imagine any Congressperson or Senator trying to score cheap political points by getting up and vowing to block passage if the terms aren't substantially improved for their side.
One-time Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill used to say there were two kinds of opposition voiced when a crucial bill had to be voted upon. One was the genuine belief that the bill was bad and that it had to be blocked for the good of America…and there was a chance, albeit slim, of actually doing that. Then there was the kind where the rep knows it's going to pass and probably wants it to…but can't resist the opportunity to grab attention and impress certain constituents that he was in there, swinging and fighting for them 'til the bitter end. I'm sure we won't see any opposition of either kind tomorrow…he said, sarcastically.
Back to my own deadline…