Keller @ Large: End Of Debt Showdown Is In Sight
BOSTON (CBS) - The end of the debt showdown is in sight. On Monday, the House passed a bill to raise the country's debt limit and avoid a historic default.
The Senate will vote Tuesday. President Obama says he will sign it into law.
The bill is expected to pass. But the debate is far from over.
Republicans say it doesn't cut enough spending. Democrats say it slashes too much. Neither side is happy.
But the Republicans didn't look like negotiators who gave as much as they got.
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said, "I think the big win here for us and for the American people is the fact that that there are no tax hikes in this package."
WBZ-TV's Jon Keller reports
On the House floor before the vote, Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) made plain his contempt for that alleged victory.
"I just think it's simply wrong to have the middle class in this country, bear the burden when the Donald Trumps of the world have their tax cuts protected."
And while the president stayed out of the spotlight today, the vice president made it clear they'd like to now change the subject.
"We should be talking about infrastructure. We should be talking about investment in education. We should be talking right now about investing and innovation."
But all that costs money.
Many more months of partisan posturing are likely, but the deal does contain a twist. If lawmakers fail again to truly reform the way we tax and spend, they will kick the whole mess over to a bi-partisan commission with unprecedented power.
But will even that break the gridlock?
