Senate passes debt-limit bill - Washington Post

Speaking in the White House Rose Garden after the Senate vote, Obama called the legislation "an important first step" in ensuring that the nation lives within its means, and he said it avoids "cutting too abruptly while the economy is still fragile." He vowed to keep working for a "balanced approach" to deficit reduction that includes "reforming our tax code so that the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations pay their fair share."

The Senate vote came a day after the House voted 269 to 161 to pass the plan, as recalcitrant Republicans and disappointed Democrats rallied around calls to avert the nation's first default and rein in ballooning deficits. The measure immediately grants the Treasury $400 billion in additional borrowing authority, with more to follow.

Obama urged Congress to take "bipartisan, common-sense steps" after its August recess to boost job creation and spur economic growth, including extension of tax cuts for middle-class families. He also called for patent reform, congressional passage of trade deals with Asian and Latin American countries and the creation of an "infrastructure bank" to put construction workers and projects together.

"We can't balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession," Obama said in appealing for measure to raise more revenue from the wealthy and corporations. "Everybody is going to have to chip in. It's only fair. "That's the principle that I will be fighting for in the next phase of this process."

In debate before the Senate vote, there was little enthusiasm for the bill — just a recognition that it had to be passed.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told tea party-allied conservatives that "although you may not see it this way, you've actually won this debate." He said the bill "represents a new way of doing business in Washington," adding: "We have changed the debate. We're headed in the right direction."

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a floor speech, "Our country was literally on the verge of a disaster," which he said has now been averted. But he took issue with McConnell's boast of tea party victory. "The result of the tea party direction of this Congress . . . has been very, very disconcerting and very unfair to the American people," he said. Because the bill does not raise new revenue, Reid said, most Americans, including Republicans, "think the arrangement we've just done is unfair, because the richest of the rich have contributed nothing to this."

The immediate achievement of the legislation is that it "clearly avoids default," Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said in a floor speech. But he said it could eventually usher in "major tax reform" by forcing lawmakers to overhaul the tax code, which he said is filled with loopholes, tax breaks and special-interest preferences that will cost $14 trillion over the next 10 years.