Really, Harry?
Seems to me that they have fundamentally reshaped the debate over debt and deficits in this country over the last year.
While the media focuses on the color of the ties worn by the leaders and the tone of their public utterances, the fiscal landscape in the US has been utterly upended.
Case in point: Obama’s 2012 budget, submitted to Congress in January included no cuts in spending. His April speech (after it became clear that the political winds had shifted) talked about cuts over a 12-year period, all back-loaded. (US budgets are “scored” over a 10-year period by the CBO.)
Fast-forward to this week: Both the House and Senate proposals offer cuts, nothing but cuts. No tax hikes.
Harry Reid can rail all he wants, but the Tea Party has already won the debate.
Hopefully what ever deal is done will be a beginning, because much more will need to be done in the very near future to avoid a massive increase in spending as more and more Boomers retire…
Remaining on the present path is unsustainable and the markets know it. Hopefully the politicians now realize it as well.
