Dispatches recommended by U.S. Senator Jim DeMint:
The debt deal has been made and now Congress has adjourned for the August recess. I wish I could tell you that our principles prevailed, but they didn’t and there’s no honest way to put a happy face on the outcome.
The final agreement, which the President signed into law yesterday:
- Raises the debt limit by as much as $2.4 trillion;
- Allows the debt to continue to grow by $7 trillion over the next decade;
- Creates a new, 12-member “super-committee” with the power to force major tax increases through Congress;
- Threatens our AAA bond rating; and
- Never balances the budget.
Washington is addicted to spending and it’s a bipartisan addiction. The debt deal passed the Senate with 74 votes — 46 Democrats and 28 Republicans. You can see the full results here.
Some of you are outraged. Many are discouraged. In fact, a number of you have emailed me asking what this means for our cause, where we go from here, and what we should do next.
I believe it confirms that many of our elected leaders in Washington are the problem, and the only effective strategy to solve it is to elect new senators who truly share our values and have the courage to fight for them.