Reply #12: To paraphrase E. Cleaver:

[Blaukraut]

It's a Satan Sandwich, not even with sugar on it. This supposed deal is a travesty, and there is no sugarcoating it - at all. The Rethugs have mastered the art of extortion. Not too difficult, considering the willing target. Obama is a terrible negotiator. I've posted elsewhere that he is risk averse and has a pathological need to compromise. This goes beyond post-partisanship, imo. He is an intelligent person, so you would think that after having been railroaded several times, he would learn his lesson. Apparently not. I'm not ready to concede that he actually has very few convictions other than ensuring his own political survival and legacy, but I'm headed in that direction.

No Democrat has EVER allowed the Big Three to be touched. That was always something the R's would attempt half-heartedly, and the Dems would shoot down loudly and proudly. Not anymore. Obama has made the impossible possible.

No mixed feelings here, nope. Sure, it could have been much worse - SS and Medicaid could also have been on the chopping block. And make no mistake: Medicare cuts that are targeted only at providers WILL trickle down to beneficiaries, as well. Tax increases will not be part of the so-called Super Congress's recommendations. Why should it be? No incentive at all, if by simply waiting it out, the cuts-only triggers will come into play. The defense cuts are a sticking point still - the only positive piece for our side in the trigger. So knowing Obama, they will be reduced so the R's in the house can vote for the Satan Sandwich.

The best option would have been for Obama to raise the debt ceiling by invoking the 14th amendment. Yes, he likely would have been impeached and/or taken to court but he would have come out as the winner, the economy wouldn't have been dealt another blow, and the Democrats would still be able to campaign as champions of the Big Three.