'World News' Political Insights: Debt Fight Brings Political Knives

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2011— -- In the great spending wars of 2011, there's no rest for the very weary.

The compromise that averted a government shutdown late Friday night has among its hallmarks the distinction of being the type of agreement that both sides attacked before they came around to embrace it.

Republicans insisted on more cuts and more policy bite; they settled for less money and none of the most significant provisions affecting abortion and environmental law. Democrats drew a line in the sand on budget cuts, but they had to redraw it even without knowing what the line-item impact will be.

The disappointment and resentment on both sides of the aisle adds fuel to the far larger fight over spending to come. The nation is fast running out of room under the legal debt limit -- setting up a vote with worldwide implications that far exceed the worries over partial government shutdowns.

Looming over the politics of debt are a number of stubborn facts.

First, all involved in the debate at high levels recognize that a failure to raise the debt ceiling would be a monumental disaster. The United States defaulting on creditors would almost certainly crater global financial markets, as is widely and publicly acknowledged among leaders of both parties.

Second, the modern history of the debt limit has been such that where politicians stand typically depends on where they sit. Tough votes to authorize more debt have traditionally fallen to the party controlling the White House. That's why then-Senator Barack Obama could vote against a higher debt ceiling in 2006 -- yet warn that any similar vote would be irresponsible now that he's president in 2011.