Well, the world did not spin off its axis as some had thought might happen with the congressional budget negotiations.

Republican House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and Senate Democratic Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray produced a budget compromise that makes some people happy, some people unhappy and even some folks on both extremes quite unhappy.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/10/21851499-lawmakers-announce-compromise-budget-deal?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1

I believe it’s called compromise. No one gets everything they want.

Am I happy with the deal? Not entirely. I wish they could have extended long-term unemployment insurance for about a million Americans. They didn’t. I also wish they could have produced some significant tax reform that closes a lot of corporate loopholes. That one is undone too.

But the deal forestalls a government shutdown. It lays out a budget for the next two years. It cuts the deficit by $23 billion over the next decade. If that seems like chump change with a budget of more than $1 trillion, it is.

However, the deficit has been shrinking significantly on its own already.

Perhaps the most oversold element of the deal is that it buys congressional negotiators time to craft a “grand bargain” that addresses entitlement reform, tax reform, revenue increases, further spending cuts … all of that kind of thing.

Does anyone really believe Congress is going to take full advantage of the opportunity to do something really grand?

Not me.

However, a bipartisan agreement — which still must be approved by Congress — is a sign of progress on Capitol Hill. For that I am grateful.