National Review Online
by Andrew Stiles
December 12, 2013

When Congress passed the Budget Control Act (BCA) in 2011, it was supposed to offset a $2.1 trillion debt-ceiling increase with at least $2.4 trillion worth of long-term savings (through 2021). The latter figure was ultimately revised down to $2.1 trillion (including about $1.2 trillion via sequestration) after the supercommittee failed to agree on an alternative plan.

Some conservatives charge that the Murray-Ryan budget deal announced Tuesday retroactively violates the core premise of the BCA, namely the so-called Boehner Rule, House speaker John Boehner’s (R., Ohio) insistence that every dollar worth of increased borrowing authority be offset by at least one dollar in savings — achieved solely through spending cuts or reforms.

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http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/366...n-andrew-stiles