In spite of months of heated debate, Congress passed a bill to reduce spending and raise the debt ceiling this week, saving the United States from defaulting on it debt. According to professional economists, had the US not approved an increase to the debt ceiling, the nation would begin defaulting on its loans on August 2. But a bipartisan deal crafted by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, was reached over the weekend and presented to the Residence of Representatives on Monday.

The bill, which was passed by a 269-to-161 vote in the Residence, raised the debt ceiling by over $2 trillion and $917 billion in spending cuts above the up coming decade. The bill, upon on a signature from the President, would right away release $400 billion in further spending power to avert the looming " and quickly-approaching " deadline. The enhance need to let the United States to borrow with out incident till 2013.

Even though spending cuts have been authorized in the bill, the legislation also designed a specific committee that will look into more cuts and release a report in 3 months. Even though Democrats didn’t get the income boost they have been hoping for, Republicans did waver on the amount of cuts to domestic programs. The agreement contains about $44 billion more for social programs, such as Pell grants for school, and $ten billion much less for the defense spending budget. Although the bill wasn’t perfect for either party, Republican and Democratic leaders worked challenging to convince their fellow representatives that a deal need to be reached, or the US could face drastic financial consequences.

Many Democrats, although, remained concerned that although the bill is made up of cuts in social applications to aid the poor, there is no accompanying sacrifice for the richest Americans, as the bill incorporated no hike in taxes. The Tea Party faction also spoke out against the bill, despite the truth that it contained no income increases, and did not vote for the bill.

The American people also appear disappointed and frustrated with the way Congress and party leaders handled the debt crisis. About 3 quarters of Americans used a unfavorable word to describe how they felt about the debt negotiations, and only 2 % mentioned one thing in favor of how Congress went about crafting the agreement.

One piece of excellent news from the House floor was the return of Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who returned to Washington for the 1st time to cast her vote in favor of the bill. Giffords was shot in the head at a rally in Tucson, Arizona in January and has been on leave since the incident. She was greeted with a standing ovation from both parties, who applauded her return.

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