NEW YORK TIMES: The budget agreement struck late Monday between the White House and Congress hands President Obama a clear victory, vindicating his hard line this year against spending limits that he argued were a drag on the economy and buying him freedom for the final 14 months of his term from the fiscal dysfunction that has plagued his presidency…
For this fiscal year alone, the deal would add $50 billion in spending, divided equally between defense and domestic programs, as well as $16 billion for emergency war spending, half for the military, half for the State Department. Together, that represents an increase of $66 billion above the spending limits for 2016, not far off the $70 billion increase Mr. Obama requested.
In the end, the retirement of Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, Mr. Obama’s negotiating partner in several abortive attempts at a much more sweeping fiscal deal, handed the president the leverage he needed to break the budget impasse. Mr. Boehner said he wanted to “clean out the barn” before handing over his gavel to a successor, telegraphing an opening for an agreement… (more)
