Tea Party conservatives don’t like it.

Progressive Democrats call it a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich”.

Oftentimes, you know you’ve struck the correct balance when you have the so-called extremists on both side criticizing your agreement. In this case, however, nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is, this country (actually, this federal government) has a spending problem. Pure and simple. And every study worth its weight has shown you can take as much wealth as their is from those rich, greedy bastard corporations and those evil oil companies and you still won’t get eliminate our present national deficit, let alone fix the problem. Because the problem is federal spending. Giving money to the feds is like crack cocaine, all it creates is a desire for more. Until this basic fact is understood, we will continue to hurtle our way towards a future few, if any of us can comprehend.

Simply put, we are heading towards an economic catastrophe, and all Washington did was kick that dented, dirty and collapsing can down the road just a little bit more.

Republicans say it’s the best they could do, given the fact they only hold the House of Representatives. Perhaps.

Democrats say that the lack of increased revenue shows the President did a poor job at negotiating. I agree. When you have 47% of the country not paying any taxes it’s time to bring about legislation that puts everyone’s skin in the game. You get any kind of benefits from the feds or the state, you get taxed on it.

In the end, it matters little; we’re still on the road to economic catastrophe. As NRO’s Peter Kirsanow explains:

Under the latest “deal,” we are told, federal spending will be cut approximately $2.7 trillion. That’s false. We’re going to pretend to cut $2.7 trillion, which is somehow meant to be a greater achievement than pretending to cut $1.5 trillion, but not as great as pretending to cut $4 trillion, which is what the rating agencies would prefer. In reality (that benighted realm that exists outside the District of Columbia), spending will increase by about $6,000,000,000,000.

Members of the political class pat themselves on their backs for coming up with a deal that is “the best deal they could get.” The dominant media coo about the statesmanship and sobriety that supposedly pulled the nation from the economic brink, permitting us all to return to our mundane pursuits. But the spending will increase and the liabilities will mount. The day of fiscal reckoning will continue to approach.

And it’s not just the ratings agencies that will be watching. So will our creditors — including those countries whose geopolitical interests don’t necessarily align with ours. In particular, they will be watching as we slash our defense spending at the same time new threats emerge around the world. Some of those countries will place strategic bets. Those bets will not be made the same way they would have been during American ascendancy. Those bets are immune to the conceits of our political class. Those bets are going to create even more headaches for us.

The deal that emerges from the debt-ceiling debate may indeed be the “best deal we could get.” It should demonstrate, however, that this isn’t the best political class we could get. And it should demonstrate the perils of electing a spendaholic regime content to lead from behind.

So dopn’t talk to me about compromise. This so-called “deal” is a lose-lose situation for everyone who cares about this country’s future.