Bipartisan Deal, Bipartisan Opposition

President Barack Obama speaks from the White House briefing room, Sunday, July 31, 2011, about a deal being reached to raise the debt limit. (Photo credit: Jacquelyn Martin / AP)

Analysis by David Espo

Aug. 1, 2011

WASHINGTON— The newly struck debt-ceiling compromise between President Barack Obama and the Republican leaders of Congress represents a historic accomplishment of divided government, with all the disappointment that implies for the most ardent partisans inside the two major parties and out. …

The tea party conservatives won’t like it, regretting it doesn’t cut spending by more. “Someone has to say no, I will,” Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said in a statement emailed from Iowa Sunday night, where she was courting Republicans for her 2012 presidential bid.

Neither will the liberal Democrats, unhappy that it cuts at all. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site

Video

Raising the debt ceiling (MSNBC “Hardball,” Aug. 1, 2011) — Big Number: Between 1981 and 1989, former President Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling 199.5 percent. (00:36)

Ronald Reagan’s Plea to Raise Debt Ceiling (July 20, 2011)

Investors Losing Confidence That Debt Issued By Dysfunctional U.S. Government Is Risk-Free (July 26, 2011)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

One Year Ago — August 1, 2010

Iraq Civilian Deaths 2-Year High

One year ago today, I reported that July 2010 was Iraq’s deadliest month in more than two years, suggesting that a resilient insurgency was successfully taking advantage of the months of deadlock in forming a new Iraqi government.

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Two Years Ago — August 1, 2009

Deadliest Month of Afghan War

Two years ago today, on August 1, 2009, I reported that 40 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in July 2009, by far the heaviest monthly toll up to that point in the war. The worst previous month for U.S. forces had been September 2008, when 26 were killed.

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Three Years Ago — August 1, 2008

Campaign Against Michele Bachmann: Day 18

Three years ago today, on August 1, 2008 — the 18th day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District — I addressed the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, where violence had begun to spread to once-stable regions. I also reported economic indicators that the U.S. had begun to slide into recession.