Jason Huff Democratic consultant :
The tea party obviously came out ahead on this deal. Although citizen members claim to be not happy with the debt ceiling outcome, their elected reps showed their power within the Republican ranks. Congressional members who have only been in office for six months were able to topple career politicians with their obstinacy. Unfortunately, their ability to pout and not do their jobs affects all Americans, not just the districts that sent them to Washington.
Republicans were never pressed on their claims, and Democrats made apologies for things they didn't need to. Republicans kept stating that any revenue increases were job killers. If revenues and taxes are impediments to job creation, why aren't jobs springing up everywhere?
Taxes are at their lowest level in years, Wall Street has been bailed out, and jobs are disappearing at a record rate. Republicans are saying that you can't punish their donors...I mean, successful entrepreneurs. Why should the working and middle class be punished instead? The Republicans have never put forth a single jobs bill. They never speak of jobs. They just say that if we give the rich more breaks then they will create jobs. Skeptics would accept their point t if they would introduce some success stories from trickle down economics, but they can't.
A note to the president and congressional Democrats: do not let conservatives rewrite history. According to every Republican that spoke during this issue, the U.S. Treasury was solid until January 2009 and then Barack Obama spent like a drunken sailor.
It's not true. Do not let them set the terms of this, or any, fight. Do not allow them to say you are blaming George Bush. You are just telling the truth. You came into a huge mess and you are triaging the damage. These same conservatives totally ignored the fact that His Holiness Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling (without strings) 18 times during his reign. They state that they were sent to Washington to change things: changing things did not included driving the economy into a global collapse.