George Will: Ryan's Credibility May Boost GOP Support of Budget Deal

The House and Senate now have to vote on the budget deal hammered out between Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and commentator George Will thinks Ryan's credibility with his caucus may bode well for it's passage in the GOP-controlled House.

Will called the cutting of $23 billion from the federal deficit a "rounding error," adding, "It's trivial. But what's not trivial is the politics that this sets up."

Will appeared as part of the panel Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Special Report."

"It just could be that the fractious, turbulent anti-establishment House may rally 'round this partly because Paul Ryan has such credibility with his own caucus," Will said.

If so, it would set up some interesting politics as the vote moves to the Senate where at least one establishment Republican might actually vote against it. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is in a battle to keep his seat against tea party primary opposition. 

And, Will noted, "the sequester is his baby. … So you could have the establishment, in a sense, resisting the House."

Fellow panelist Mara Liasson noted that the deal isn't a grand bargain, but more of a "tiny little deal." In an election year, she noted, Democrats don't want to raise taxes and Republicans don't want to cut entitlements.

Much like civil wars, she said, the budget deal may have ended simply because both sides were too tired to go on.