So we know most of the deal now. Boehner released a seven-page PDF that he was using to sell the deal to his caucus (so note that it's a slanted source), and the basics are
what we knew before, with the modification that the McConnell's "let's all vote that we hate Obama" part is out, and it is replaced by the reappearance of the much-wanted Balanced Budget Amendment.
From Boehner's presentation, here are a few of the particulars:
- "cuts government spending more than it increases the debt limit"
- "Would cut & cap discretionary spending immediately, saving $917B over 10 years"
- "no tax hikes"
- "Requires baseline to be current law, effectively making it impossible for Joint Committee to increase taxes."
- "Failure to remain below [budget] caps triggers automatic across-the-board cuts ('sequestration')."
- Second, $1.5 trillion tranche if Super Congress cuts adopted, or both houses pass a Balanced Budget Amendment.
- If Super Congress fails to achieve at least $1.2 trillion in cuts, "across-the-board spending cuts would apply to FY's 2013-2021, and apply to both mandatory and discretionary programs."
- "Total reductions would be equally split between defence and non-defense programs."
- Medicare not exempted from across-the-board cuts. Medicaid, Social Security, veterans, civil & military pay exempted.
According to Boehner:
"There is nothing in this framework that violates our principles. It’s all spending cuts. The White House bid to raise taxes has been shut down. And as I vowed back in May – when everyone thought I was crazy for saying it – every dollar of debt limit increase will be matched by more than a dollar of spending cuts. And in doing this, we’ve stopping a job-killing national default that none of us wanted."
Well, I'd say that's right. There's nothing in this framework that violates their principles, and the White House bids were all shut down.
This is all a recipe to greater recession and greater unemployment, mind you, but it's been a damn long time since Congress cared about either of those things.