President Barack Obama awoke today to furious reaction to his last-minute debt deal, with experts slamming the agreement as a cruel means of hitting middle classes with tax hikes ‘through the back door’.
The President and congressional leaders last night finally announced an agreement on emergency legislation to avert the nation’s first-ever financial default.
But while the dramatic resolution briefly lifted a cloud that had threatened the still-fragile economic recovery, critics said in the long run the middle classes would bear the brunt of the country’s massive debt, with increased taxes set to cover for the White House’s reluctance to cut public spending.
Thumbs up: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is all smiles as he walks to the Senate floor to announce that a deal has been reached on the debt ceiling. Photo Courtesy: AP
- Democrats fear further spending cuts while Republicans say deal is just a means of raising taxes at a later stage by joint committee
- Frantic behind the scenes lobbying expected to get lawmakers on the fringes of both parties to support deal
- Experts fear credit rating will still be downgraded as U.S. enters double-dip recession and Dow Jones dramatically falls
- Furious public backlash on Twitter
- Deal slammed a ‘sugar-coated Satan sandwich’
- Tea Party senator says he will filibuster today’s vote
- Obama: Debt deal will end crisis and remove cloud over the economy
- Agreement will cut about $1trillion over 10 years