The Daily Chart: When and Who

Many readers really don’t like the debt ceiling deal, but the irony is that relatively speaking divided government delivers better results than when Republicans have had unified control of the executive and legislative branches in recent decades, as a careful look at this data series will suggest:

Meanwhile, here’s how Steve Moore, an ultra spending hawk, sizes up the deal:

Hats off to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Eight weeks ago we had a president who was throwing a hissy fit and insistent that he would NEVER negotiate ANY deal on the debt ceiling – even though he was the one who as Vice President under Obama, negotiated the 2011 debt ceiling deal.

Of course, we would have liked to see deeper spending cuts, but the reality right now is Republicans only control one-half of one branch of government. The only way to get more progress in restoring fiscal sanity is to get a new president elected in 2024.

As a short-term fix, the debt deal stops the bleeding.

More on the deal from Steve (“A Step in the Right Direction”) in the NY Post.

Chaser:

If Congress doesn’t complete its appropriations work on time – and it almost never does – it passes what is called a “continuing resolution.” But thanks to language in the deal written by Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky, any CR would come with a 1% cut in spending from the previous year. Massie tells us he’s worried Congress will find ways around the cap, but it’s a great spending limitation reform nonetheless.

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