House and Senate Negotiators Reach Budget Accord

BRADENTON – Although there's no "grand bargain" to be had, negotiators in the U.S. House and Senate reached a budget deal late Tuesday that would raise both military and domestic spending over the next two years. The bipartisan agreement includes about $65 billion in across-the-board domestic and defense cuts.

The deal reached by lawmakers also adds an additional $25 billion in deficit reduction by extending a 2 percent cut to Medicare two years beyond the cuts set by the Budget Control Act of 2011, that were to last until 2021.

Republicans, led by House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, will now have to set about selling the comprimise to their party, especially in the GOP-controlled House. Conservative groups have already attacked the deal as too modest in scope, in terms of cutting the deficit.