Apocalypse averted?

At last, signs that Washington’s lawmakers may have scrabbled together a debt deal after all. According to the overnight wires, the White House and Congressional leaders have alighted on a package that would raise the ceiling by $2.4 trillion, so long as the deficit is reduced by at least the same amount over the next ten years. There are more details here, but the key claim is that around $1.2 trillion of immediate spending cuts have already been agreed upon, with a Congressional committee to recommend further deficit reduction measures by the end of November. And although these proposals will still have to pass through the corridors of Congress, leaders from both sides sound increasingly optimistic that it will do just that. The Senate Majority leader Harry Reid — who earlier yesterday was lambasting the Republicans for “still refus[ing] to negotiate in good faith” — is now talking about a “move