The biggest question mark in the debt deal negotiations remains the Republican House, where the intransigent tea party Republican freshmen continue to insist that federal default would be totally awesome and stuff.
In the Senate, where the prevalence of "gangs" makes the body "reasonable" by definition, it's thought that it might be possible to pass a deal that's merely distasteful to the public, but anathema to House Republicans. Then, after some magic, the House would capitulate and all would be well. But first, you'd have to get to the point where the Senate passes some legislative vehicle containing The Deal, as opposed to the Cut, Cap and Kill Medicare Act that the House sent them.
Can it be done? More to the point, can it be done if the bill contains revenue provisions, which according to the Constitution, must originate in the House?
Yes.
How? For this I refer you to a previous instance in which I referred you to my previous instances of referencing this maneuver. Remember?
The short answer is that the Senate gets around the Constitutional requirement that revenue bills originate in the House by taking a House bill that's lying around waiting for Senate action, bringing it to the floor, and then adopting an amendment that substitutes the entire text that came from the House for an entirely new text that says what the Senate wants. And there you have a bill that "originated" in the House, but which contains revenue provisions first written in the Senate.
Of what use is this knowledge? Well, for one thing, it means that even with a tight schedule, the Senate can and very well may initiate work on its own version of The Deal, no matter what the House thinks is or should be the option on the table.
For another, it means that if any party to any deal tells you—just by way of example—that the whole deal does contemplate revenue increases, but that due to a technicality they couldn't actually be included in this bill but are sure to come later in another bill, you don't have to believe them.