Enough votes reached in Senate to pass debt limit bill

In a last minute compromise plan, the U.S. Senate crossed-over the 60-vote threshold that would raise the U.S. debt ceiling and impose new spending cuts over the next decade. The reported 74-26 vote will allow the plan to be sent to the White House where it could potentially be signed into law by President Barack Obama. The debt-limit bill calls for a promise of more than $2 trillion in budget cuts over the next ten years. A $400 billion increase was also added to the $14.3 trillion U.S. borrowing cap with an additional $500 billion already added this fall. Said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, “We’ve had to settle for less than we wanted, but what we’ve achieved is in no way insignificant.”