Congress To Vote On Historic Debt Deal
DETROIT (WWJ) - The White House and Republicans in Congress have reached a debt deal to prevent the first ever government default in U.S. history.
The deal, still needs to be approved by the House and the Senate, would cut trillions of dollars in government spending over the next 10 years and raise the amount of money the U.S. is legally allowed to borrow by enough to avoid another showdown on the matter before next year's presidential election.
WWJ and Fox 2 Business Editor Murray Feldman spoke live with reporter Rob Mason about the historic agreement.
"The headline is 'No Default', we have been saying that it would play out like this for days now and it has happened. The bottom line is that the U.S. is going to have money to pay its obligations because the debt ceiling is being raised. But there will be a dollar for dollar cut in the budget," said Feldman.
"On a financial level ... that's a responsible way to conduct business, however when you get down to communities where we live, we are looking at a lot of uncertainties," Feldman said. "Now the attention will focus on where do we want to cut," he added.
The agreed upon plan combines spending cuts with an increase in the government's borrowing cap.
So, what does this mean for Michigan and other states?
"It means that Michigan had dodged a bullet," said WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick.
"It means payments on roads, Medicare, Medicaid, all these programs that are so vital to people in the social safety net will continue to flow, if the Congress says yes," Skubick said, adding that although this is a compromise that very few people like, the deal likely will pass.
Congress is expected to vote on the deal sometime Monday.
Stay tuned to WWJ, and click here for the latest from CBS News.
