To finance this, the government will focus on spending, curbing pay increases for civil servants, imposing a freeze on hiring of new government employees and using retiring civil servants to temporarily plug shortfalls.
Every serious bipartisan proposal to tackle the long-term budget deficit — Bowles-Simpson, the commission led by Ms. Rivlin and former Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, the National Academy of Sciences — calls for a combination of cutbacks in the growth of entitlement spending, curbing discretionary spending, including defense, and some tax increases.
The proposal included spending curbs and tax increases.
Instead he introduced "stealth" tax increases and tough spending curbs.
The spending curbs in the debt-ceiling deal will not dampen growth much, but the expiry of previous stimulus will.
There are murmurings among labor unions of a winter of discontent if spending curbs are too aggressive.
They accuse Mr Obama of scheming to opt out of spending curbs that currently crimp the budget, though these are "the law of the land".
After all, as Mr Bundred also pointed out, pay restraint is only one element in the spending curbs that will be needed.
The shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, said Osborne was in denial about the damage being caused by VAT increases and the toughest spending curbs since the 1970s.
While some on the right see social enterprise – a "third way" – as the answer to filling the gap left by government spending curbs, Martin urges caution.
In still other debt-related news, the Senate failed to agree on a budget plan despite multiple proposals the Republicans helpfully came up with to slash spending, curb entitlements and lower taxes.
