The Washington Post slammed the bipartisan budget deal, saying the plan denies reality.
"Senate leaders on Wednesday struck a far-reaching, two-year budget deal that would dispense with a bundle of issues that have bedeviled Washington for years, and they immediately took a victory lap," the newspaper said in an editorial.
"Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called it 'a significant bipartisan step forward,' and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., hailed it as 'very good for the American people.'
The newspaper praised Senate leaders for talking to each other and dealing in good faith.
But it added: "Too bad it all had to come at the cost of more debt, confirming yet again that the only time Washington’s leaders appear able to shake hands on big deals is when both sides agree to run up the national tab."
Still, the Post pointed out there are good parts of the plan, including possibly preventing another government shutdown, increasing military spending, funding the Children’s Health Insurance plan for another four years and devoting $6 billion to the opioid crisis and another $20 billion to infrastructure.
It said Congress should have agreed on those issue months ago.
"But they are what used to be considered the easy part," the newspaper said. "Instead of raising revenue or reforming big entitlement programs — or, ideally, both — to pay fully for government operations, senators would add billions more to the debt.
"The reality denial is particularly pervasive among Republicans, who forfeited any moral authority they claimed on debt when they rammed through that huge tax bill. Their arguments that tax cuts will pay for themselves and that lawmakers should simply fill any gap with deep spending cuts are about equally preposterous. Now in near-total control of Washington, they are proving once again that they care about the debt only when it is a good campaign issue.
"Is it too much to ask that Congress provide a reasonable level of government service, without near-constant drama, and pay for it? Apparently so."
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