Debt Deal Fine Print II 

The final language of the debt limit deal between Congress and the White House maintains numbers from Republicans on spending caps for future federal budgets, which GOP lawmakers argue is a first step on the long road to a balanced budget.

It was all part of the give and take on this bill, as Republicans were able to keep the exact spending cap numbers which were approved last Friday in a close vote in the House.

"I think I can say with a high degree of confidence that there is now a framework to review that will ensure significant cuts in Washington spending," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.

For many Republicans though, much more needs to be done.

"A balanced budget amendment is an essential next step," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), as Republicans say a Constitutional change is still needed to rein in the size of the federal government.

The spending caps would look like this:

The current funding levels for the federal government in the current fiscal year (in terms of discretionary spending) are at $1.049 trillion.

So, this deal would basically keep the budget flat for two more years, through Fiscal Year 2013.

But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that the federal budget would keep growing in size under this plan after that. Still, this is the first time since 2002 that spending caps will be in place to limit that growth.

The caps were allowed to expire in 2002 by the Republican Congress and the Bush Administration, in part because they would have made it more difficult to approve the Bush tax cuts, which remain a political football in 2011.

As for other items in this agreement, the final legislative language does not include any provisions to deal with the partial shutdown at the Federal Aviation Administration.

The deal also dropped a series of provisions offered by the Senate on deficit reduction, as negotiators rejected a plan to save $11 billion by cutting direct payments to farmers, and another plan to auction off TV channel frequencies for use by wireless phone companies.

"This morning, I printed out a copy of the legislative language to read line by line before I determine how I will vote," said Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), one of many lawmakers looking over the deal.

There's much more to evaluate in the agreement on the special 12 member commission that will try to squeeze out more in budget savings and how the debt limit is increased; we'll get to those in another blog post later today.