Those of you out there who thought that the United States of America was going to instantly vanish on August 2nd, can breathe as sigh of relief now.  It’s not.

However, there will be meetings of every Congressional caucus and coffee clatch known to man today as Democratic and Republican leaders in both chambers try to convince their rank and file to agree to back a compromise debt-reduction package that gifts President Barack Hussein Obama (Peace be upon him…at the start of Ramadan) up to a $2.5 trillion hike in the debt limit, upon the provision that Congress can find an equal or greater amount in spending cuts.

No worries for Scooter, though.  Even if the Congresscritters can’t come up with any areas in which to curb spending, the cuts will be found for them.  If the committee to be established by the proposal fails to submit their recommendations for additional cuts approved by the end of this year, a preconceived “DEFCON 4” alarm in the plan will automatically enact across-the-board cuts.

I believe that…don’t you?

Tea-Party-backed Republicans, hard-left progressives and Congressional Black Caucus members are already voicing their opposition to the deal. But those Republicans who just looove to reach across the aisle and those Democrats anxious to please their messiah and get themselves and him re-elected are steadfastly pushing an emergency form of phony bipartisanship as financial markets abroad rallied over the news.

Per Obama, the deal provides for an immediate cut of $1 trillion in government spending over a 10-year period accompanied by a $900 billion increase in the debt ceiling. That will be followed by the creation of the committee to come up with additional cuts worth at least $1.5 trillion. The debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion if the committee recommendations are approved by the end of the year.

Each of the GOP and Democratic leaders in the chamber will nominate lawmakers to the 12-member committee to report back in the fall.

Tax hikes are not part of the package and a pledge for a Balanced Budget Amendment vote is.

Obama assured Americans in a speech yesterday from the White House Briefing Room that everything will be on the table and both parties will find some of the cuts objectionable.

Despite what some Republicans have argued, I believe that we have to ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share by giving up tax breaks and special deductions. Despite what some in my own party have argued, I believe that we need to make some modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to ensure that they’re still around for future generations. That’s why the second part of this agreement is so important.

The Senate went home Sunday night without a vote on a deal, but Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said that the parties {mostly Republicans) are going to have to give ground and compromise so the country doesn’t default.

I am relieved to say that leaders from both parties have come together for the sake of our economy to reach a historic, bipartisan compromise that ends this dangerous standoff. The compromise we have agreed to is remarkable not only because of what it does, but because of what it prevents: a first-ever default on the full faith and credit of the United State.

And, if you don’t believe me, I’ll have every Union member in Nevada come to your door, as I did in the Midterm Elections…Okay…you caught me…I made that up.

Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will both present the agreement to their caucuses this morning.

House Democrats also set a meeting this morning to discuss the details.

So, what happens now?

Per foxnews.com:

After weeks of talks, charade votes, heated barbs and exceptional brinksmanship, finishing the deal will come down to mathematics.

It’s simple, really: 60 votes to clear a filibuster in the Senate and then 51 for final passage. And in the House, the magic number for this exercise is 216.

To start, let’s look at the House where the legislative lift could prove most challenging.

As of this writing, it’s unclear which chamber might try to move the bill first. The measure is potentially loaded up, ready to go in the Senate, riding along in the skeleton of an old bill crafted to modernize the Freedom of Information Act. This piece of legislation already carries extraordinary privileges, skipping toward the front of the parliamentary line and vaulting at least one potential filibuster.

But Congressional leaders face a looming deadline of Tuesday night. So it’s likely Congressional leaders will choose the easiest course that assures passage of the bill in both chambers.

And starting in the Senate might be best under that logic.

Here’s why: the peripheries of both parties, liberal Democrats and tea party Republicans abhor this bill. It’s unlikely that many of those lawmakers at the margins can support it. That makes it challenging to cobble together a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. But that said, the bill seemingly has more backing in the Senate than it does in the House.

Fox News, which has implemented a move toward the squishy middle for several months now, calling the Tea Party the “periphery”…now that’s funny.  Conservatives sure weren’t the periphery when we won the Midterm Elections for the Republican Party.

And we still aren’t. In a poll released on August 1st, 2011, gallup.com  reported:

Americans’ political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41% self-identifying as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.

If this pattern continues, 2011 will be the third straight year that conservatives significantly outnumber moderates — the next largest ideological bloc. Liberalism has been holding steady for the past six years, averaging either 21% or 22%, although notably higher than the 17% average seen in Gallup polling during the early to middle ’90s.

No wonder the Liberals, the Main Stream Media, and the Vichy Republicans have been vilifying the Tea Party Movement during the Debt Ceiling Negotiations.

We (Conservatives) outnumber them.

A note from KJ:  Today marks the start of the Muslim month-long holiday of Ramadan.  The devout do not work this month, nor do they wear jewelry.  Do me a favor.  Check out Scooter’s wedding band (or lack thereof) at his next press conference.  I ain’t sayin’…I’m just sayin’.