I don't think the writer of the column is exactly the primary mouthpiece of the WaPo.
Dealing with the debt crisis and budget deficits and Obamacare and other issues is a war that will have many battles. Some people need to learn to declare partial victory and go on to the next significant battle. This increase in the debt ceiling has taken up enough time and has become a distraction from all other issues.
Neither side was ever going to get just what it wanted. Declare victory and prepare for the next battle.
Everything else is meaningless.
I imagine both sides are saying to themselves that this is not the end game, so agreeing to a ten-year plan is just the first skirmish. We must be prepared for the long-haul and the maturation of the Tea Pary as a political force.
Incremental victories, win more elections at all levels of government, follow up the policy victories in Wisconsin and Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana, with solid economic growth in those states....I am waiting for more states to resist Obama care, and starting to take control of their own natural resources..
I am actually very proud of my country today..I am happy to be a part of a party that includes intellectual challenges, debate and doesn't march in lockstep always..Not like a bunch of brain dead socialists spouting the leftist cliche's.