
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now that the months of meaningless public reporting and partisan rancor over the debt ceiling talks have mercifully ended, we can look at the deal and what is in it. ; The initial reports myopically focus on picking the winner. ; Naturally, the biased leftwing newsies gave the victory to President Biden. FOX News scores the win for Speaker Kevin McCarthy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The most often provision the Biden fans use as evidence of a win for the President is that the next debt ceiling debate will not occur for two years – long after the 2024 presidential election. ; But is that really a win for Biden? ; Although the GOP’s debt ceiling bill that passed in the House pushed the next confrontation to March of 2023, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans have as much interest in avoiding an election year debate as does Biden. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I am betting there was no serious effort to oppose that provision to push off the next round of nonsense. ; After all, it is the Republicans who seem to suffer politically in these faux debt ceiling debates. ; And even if you give that procedural point to Biden, it is purely a political victory –something that has more to do with the Democrats lust for taxing and spending. ; Nothing that especially serves the public interest.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">To objectively decide which side scored the victory, you need to look back at the initial positions of the two sides. ; For a long time, Biden and the Democrats said that they would only support a “clean bill” – only raising the debt ceiling, period. ; Biden emphatically proclaimed that he would not change on that position. ; He threw down the gauntlet. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In claiming victory for Biden, Democrats continued to proffer the claim that Republicans would cut Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ benefits even though they said from the start that they would not – and there were never any such provisions in the Republican plans or the Bill they passed. ; The claims were nothing more than campaign bull poop.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Democrats still claim that Biden saved Social Security and Medicare. ; But, from what? ; The cuts in those programs that the Republicans never proposed and never wanted? ; Democrats claim they stopped Republicans from doing something they never intended to do – and then claimed victory when the Republicans did not do what they never planned to do. ; Sorry, that is not a negotiating victory. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Biden declared the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act to be off limits for negotiation. ; He would not negotiate on those even within the context of not negotiating on anything. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Biden initially stuck to that position until the GOP passed a Debt Ceiling Bill. ; Of course, Biden &; Company were hoping – even predicting – that the House Republicans would never agree on a Debt Ceiling Bill. ; When they did, Biden had to cave and enter into negotiations. ; That was the first big win for McCarthy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">McCarthy said that there will have to be a number of provisions to address excessive government spending. ; The key provisions of the GOP Debt Ceiling Bill included:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Keeping most spending at last year’s levels – with the military being a major exception.</li>



<li>Capping spending increases for the next 10 years. A saving of $3.2 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).</li>



<li>Re-application of unspent Covid money. ; (A saving of $30 billion, according to the CBO).</li>



<li>Block President Biden’s attempt to summarily cancel student loans. (A saving of $460 billion, according to the CBO.</li>



<li>It would rescind Biden’s massive influx of money to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ; (A saving of $120 billion, according to the CBO).</li>



<li>There was a work provision tied to some welfare.</li>
</ol>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now that the final agreement has been reached, we can analyze the relative wins or losses from either side – understanding that any successful negotiations have to have some bragging points for both sides. ; But in this case, did one side gain more than the other?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">First of all, Biden’s initial insistence, that he would not sign anything but a clean bill, has been obliterated. ; On that issue, Biden clearly caved. ; Score points for McCarthy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Biden said that the provisions of his misnamed Inflation Reduction Act were non-negotiable. ; Apparently, the money for the IRS was negotiable – so on that one, Biden caved. ; Score points for McCarthy.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The new debt ceiling deal seems to incorporate most of the provisions of the Republican&#8217;s Debt Ceiling Bill – just to a lesser degree. ; For sure, they did not get everything they wanted, but they got a lot. Including:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>An actual reduction in future spending.</li>



<li>A cap on future increases.</li>



<li>Re-application of unspent Covid funds.</li>



<li>An end to student loan write-offs.</li>



<li>Elimination of the first year of the massive increase in IRS funding (a bite out of the Inflation Reduction Act).</li>



<li>Work provisions for some welfare recipients – excluding parents.</li>
</ol>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If this list looks a lot like the provisions in the House Debt Ceiling Bill, you are very observant.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a real sense, anything other than a “clean” debt ceiling bill was a victory for the GOP – and fiscal sanity. ; In fact, no previous debt ceiling legislation went so far past a clean bill with so many specific spending restrictions. ; This was a historic first.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A better judge of the winner than me is the political partisans. ; Despite the home team praise for Biden from the folks on the small screen, the response of the congressional teammates is more telling. ; Members of the Democrats’ progressive caucus are complaining loudly. ; They do not like the results. ; Some have voted against the Bill. ; They are also complaining that Biden did not include congressional Democrats in the negotiations. ; Neither Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer nor House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries were invited to sit at the table – or even be in the room.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On the GOP side, there were also complainers and members of the McCarthy House Caucus who voted against the Bill. ; But like their Democrat counterparts, they never posed a threat to the compromise Bill’s passage. ; Unlike the Democrat complainers – who saw their past gains being whittled away – the GOP “no” votes were complaining that they did not get more concessions from Biden. ; In other words, the Democrats were upset because they LOST ground, while the Republicans were upset because they did not gain more ground. ; ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For sure, Republicans did not get everything they wanted. ; By their nature, negotiations require each side to give up something. ; But if you look at their starting positions – a “clean bill” versus a litany of specific cost cutting provisions – it is hard to see how Biden has come out a winner.  ; If all Biden got is a delay in a future debt ceiling debate – and saving Social Security and Medicare from a threat that never existed – it is hard to see a win for team Biden.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">As a sidebar, it is worth noting that another loser was political extremism. ; The compromise Bill easily passed 314 to 117 – proving that the cliffhanger fearmongering reports by the news media were fake narratives. ; It was truly a bipartisan coalition of 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats that crushed the “no” votes on the far left and far right. ; As with the earlier GOP Debt Ceiling Bill, McCarthy proved that he could deliver.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On the basis of points scored, I call it a win for the GOP – and the American people. ; Not a huge win, but a win. ; Hopefully, it will be a small step in a return to fiscal responsibility and “regular order.” ; Regardless, it is still a significant shift in the reckless spending trajectory that has characterized Washington for decades.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If there is any positive outcome of all the Draconian predictions during the debate of the Debt Ceiling &#8212; and the fearmongering over a hypothetical and unlikely default – it may be that the public has a clearer understanding of how badly dysfunctional the Congress is in handling budgeting, taxing, spending and borrowing. ; And that would be a win for the American people.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">On the extremes, there are complainers. ; Both sides had to surrender something.  ; Both sides have some things they see as good for their team. ; But on balance … on balance … team McCarthy came out ahead. ; That is called a win.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

The Debt Ceiling Vote a Win for Team McCarthy?
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as they depart following the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein