The interesting thing about the Republican white flag is that it wasn’t even a real flag. Karl Denninger went through the details and broke it down:
NO domestic spending cuts whatsoever.
NO material changes to entitlement spending ($25 billion/year on Medicare is pointless.)
NO other mandatory spending cuts. Anywhere.
Remember, the deal was supposed to be about $2 trillion in total – $1.2 as outlined above, and then $800 billion in “revenue increases” (tax hikes.) The deal “blew up” when Obama wanted another $400 billion in taxes. We’re talking about chicken**** here folks – these “cuts” are not real, they are all “reductions in planned spending increases.
In other words, the Republicans were offering real tax increases and nonexistent spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Boehner and Cantor are shameless liars whose only goal is to raise the debt ceiling without letting the Tea Party and fiscal conservatives know that they have done so without any significant spending cuts.
Moreover, there is no chance of forced default. In August, there will be a projected $150 billion in tax revenue. Interest payments will only be $29 billion. That leaves more than $120 billion to spend on everything else. So, anyone who claims that default is unavoidable as of August third or anytime in August is blatantly lying.