It seems that the crisis of a U.S. default has been averted for now with Obama and Congressional republicans coming to some kind of compromise on spending cuts and a debt ceiling raise. The deal is being hailed as a historical compromise in a historically divided federal government, a so-called victory among the least partisan of politicians. However, the most partisan politicians in the House and Senate do not share their colleagues optimism. Both progressive liberal Democrats and Tea Party Republicans are both unhappy about the new debt deal, but for entirely different reasons. Anything that didn't gut social programs and entitlements was bound not to please radical Tea Party members, but many of the far-left Democrats have also attacked Obama for not doing enough.

     Liberal Democrats are angry that the budget deal makes cuts at all, according to a recent article on Huffington Post. "This deal weakens the Democratic Party as badly as it weakens the country. We have given much and received nothing in return," said Chair of Congressional Progressive Caucus Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ). Yesterday the Progressive Caucus actually threatened to vote "no" on last night's House vote. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) blasted Obama for not doing enough, accusing Tea Party republicans of, "holding us all hostage, telling us our country is broke and we have to cut programs that are lifelines to millions of Americans, they are letting the wealthiest among us – the corporations, millionaires, billionaires, and oil companies – off scot-free, without doing their fair share." He accuses Obama of backing down in refusing to use the so-called "14th amendment" option in raising the debt ceiling without congressional involvement. Even minority leader Nancy Pelosi referred to the bill as a "Satan sandwich". Meanwhile Tea Party activitists and congressmen have been blasting fellow Republicans for not cutting enough from the budget, particularly where entitlements are concerned. It seems in a congress as divided as this one, no one on the fringes is going to come to any agreement even when a compromise is struck; not the liberal left or the ultra-conservative right.

     The issue at hand is that this deal doesn't actually solve anything. It doesn't make the epic spending cuts for which Tea Partiers have been madly campaigning. It also does raise a single dollar in tax revenue, which Liberals take issue with, along with the fact that it makes billions in cuts. In addition, the deal only temporarily staves off the specter of a default or a credit downgrade for the country, because this debate is going to essentially move into a special committee (the so-called "super congress") where this battle will be hashed out all over again. At least in committee it won't be such an insanely "media-tized" debate, but it is going to be one of the largest lobbying efforts in recent memory on Capitol Hill, and wherever the lobbies go, ethics violations are sure to follow.

     The debt deal passed the House last night with a vote of 269-161, with only 19 Republicans voting against the measure, and it is expected to pass the Senate at some point today to avoid the default deadline of midnight, tonight.