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Koechlin, at one time a frequently played and talked about French composer during the early part of the last century, has fallen on obscure times of late, with not very many of his prolific catalog of works performed or even recorded outside of France. And even in France he is not that much of a household name any more.

But during his time, Charles Koechlin was a much revered and popular composer. This piece, originally starting life as a Sonata for Horn and Piano was orchestrated in the late 1920's and enjoyed a good deal of popularity.

So here, by way of the Transcription Service of Radio France is the Poeme For Horn and Orchestra by Charles Koechlin.

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After telling Fox's Neil Cavuto how much the "American people" really want to see the deficit cut by reducing spending and pretended that he and his party have in any way been acting in the interests of everyday working Americans, he reminded everyone of just what we're in for in the near future -- more hostage taking and demands to slash our social safety nets.

I'm awaiting their new excuse after these budget cuts they've demanded start tanking our economy and putting us into another recession. I'm sure they'll be telling us that the confidence fairies out there just can't create any jobs for fear that the Bush tax cuts might not be extended.

It's from a couple weeks ago, but Craig Ferguson's monologue on Murdoch from 7/19 is worth revisiting. h/t Batocchio, who celebrated his sixth blogiversary this week.

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As unhappy as I am about how this whole debt ceiling hostage taking is going and wondering what we're in for after we get more details on what's being agreed to right now, I was glad to see someone finally push back at this Republican talking point I hear them repeat day after day, week after week -- Democrats never passed a budget and so that makes the horrid Ryan budget passed by the House somehow "responsible."

Sen. Dick Durbin finally shot that one down on Fox News Sunday this morning and explained why they never got anything passed -- 60 votes -- or in other words, Republican filibusters and obstruction.

BAIER: Senator Kyl, when you hear the president say this no way to run the government, you know, that we'll likely also face another standoff at the end of September when the continuing resolution runs out and government funding -- you know, we're up against another government shutdown. You know, former White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once famously said, "Never waste a crisis."

Do Republicans now risk become the -- becoming the party that's always pushing up to the cliff, always using that cliff to try to extract concessions? I mean, do you fear the American people will have crisis fatigue, if they don't already, and that it will hurt your party?

KYL: You mentioned the possibility of a continuing resolution. Why would Congress have to pass a continuing resolution? Because the Senate Democrats now, for the third year in a row, will not have passed a budget. That's their job.

The House Republicans have passed a budget. Senate Democrats said no to that budget. So I think it's very unfair to suggest that Republicans are responsible.

We don't have the votes in the U.S. Senate. But where they do have the votes, in the House of Representatives, they've done their job.

BAIER: Senator Durbin, why haven't the Senate Democrats passed a budget?

DURBIN: It's called 60 votes. And what it boils down to is this: we have 53 Democratic senators.

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Songs In A&E

What are you digging on tonight?

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(h/t Heather for video)

I'm working on fumes right now, but President Obama just announced that Boehner, McConnell and Reid have reached an agreement on the debt ceiling bill so now it's off to Congress to see if it will get passed.

President Obama discussed the framework in a public statement at the White House Sunday evening, and urged members of both parties to support the plan. He also criticized Congress for touching off this crisis, and for being unable to arrive at a single grand bargain to improve the country's fiscal situation (with spending cuts and tax increases) and raise the debt limit as well.

"Is this the deal I would have preferred? No," Obama said. "But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need."

The announcement came just as House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) hosted a conference call with his own, unruly caucus, to sell them on the same plan. Passing this bill will be a heavier lift in that caucus, where scores of Democrats and Republicans are expected to defect.

Luke Russert has been all over MSNBC talking about Boehner's conference call and saying it was like a pep-rally, you know..he had to go all Vince Lombardi on his members to try and persuade them to vote for this deal. VICTORY!

Stevie B:

The final hurdle was Speaker Boehner, who fought to lower the ratio on the trigger, away from a 50-50 split on the trigger we talked about earlier. As it turns out, Boehner lost that fight, and the White House told him there would be movement on this point, and the Speaker conceded the point. (He’d already won on so many other points, this was a minor setback.)

And here (pdf), by the way, is the presentation Boehner made available to his caucus after endorsing the agreement. The Speaker clearly doesn’t love the plan, but in a hilarious twist, Boehner said failing to pass it would lead to a “job-killing default.” That would be the same default Boehner has been willing to pursue for the last several months.

This plan still unfortunately kicks the can down to another frakkin' Cat Food Committee in November where we'll be debating the same stuff all over again.

I'm hearing that the cuts tied to the trigger will be 50-50 on defense and non-defense spending and that the Big Three safety Net programs won't have benefits cut. We'll find out more hard info tomorrow.

On FOX, Baier and Rosen were discussing the Balanced Budget amendment that will be voted down immediately as Rosen described it as a poison pill in the whole debt ceiling debate. Huckabee was saying what a wonderful idea it would be to alter the Constitution. Sorry, Huck, that sucks.

I'm too burnt to write much more on this tonight myself. Nobody is happy with this deal, even the Tea Party cult because many of them want the US to default and the world markets to unravel.

The NY Times has more info on the triggers and reactions from Senators and leaders from both parties.

Songs In A&E

What are you digging on tonight?

From the office of Sen. Bernie Sanders -- The 14th Amendment:

Senator Bernie Sanders spoke during a rare Saturday session. He made case for President Obama lifting the debt ceiling on his own by invoking a provision of the 14th Amendment. "The Constitution is very clear in saying that the debts of the United States ‘shall not be questioned,' Sanders said. "The president swears an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and many constitutional scholars believe that the 14th Amendment gives the president the authority and responsibility to pay our debts regardless of the dysfunction in Congress. I think that's just what he should do if he is left with no other way to protect the full faith and credit of the United States." The idea is backed by leading legal scholars and by President Bill Clinton. He said that if he were still in the White House, he would use the amendment and "force the courts to stop me."

And from the Burlington Free Press -- Sanders calls on Obama to lift the debt ceiling with 14th Amendment:

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is calling on President Barack Obama to unilaterally lift the debt ceiling by invoking the 14th Amendment.

Section 4 of the amendment states that, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”

Sanders, an independent, isn’t fazed by the possibility that using the amendment to bypass Congress on the debt limit could lead to an impeachment vote. He says Americans would thank Obama for dealing with the crisis.

“I suppose if you use the 14th Amendment and Republicans try to impeach him, that’s their right,” he said. “But I would suspect that the average American would say, ‘Given the options, thank you, Mr. President, for making sure that I at least get my Social Security check, that our soldiers get paid, that Medicare continues to function and that interest rates do not go way up.’”

Current law requires congressional approval for raising the debt limit. But former President Bill Clinton has said that if he were still in the White House, he would use the amendment and “force the courts to stop me.”

“I think the Constitution is clear, and I think this idea that the Congress gets to vote twice on whether to pay for (expenditures) it has appropriated is crazy,” Clinton said in a July 18 interview with The National Memo.

But Obama has said he does not believe invoking the amendment is a viable option. “I have talked to my lawyers,” he said on July 22. “They are not persuaded that that is a winning argument.”

Sanders said other options for action on the debt limit are “dismal.” He blamed “right-wing extremism” among House Republicans and their “refusal to look at anything that resembles a fair and sensible and balanced approach.”

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After explaining all of the terrible things that would happen if the U.S. debt ceiling was not raised, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Sunday that all the "fear" and "panic" had actually been caused by President Barack Obama.

"Now we're talking about a recession," Cramer told NBC's David Gregory. "We will be in recession if this is not resolved. Recession means many fewer jobs, means far fewer tax receipts, trillion dollars lost -- IRA, 401K -- trillion dollars lost in job creation. I'm hearing about little amounts being saved here versus what will be lost in the next six months if this is not resolved."

"I'm tired of hearing all the media talking about how this is a crisis," Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) replied. "We will solve this problem."

"I want to talk about what the congressman said about the media exasperated or even caused the problem," Cramer complained. "We were all hopeful in Wall Street and in Main Street that the president would come out and say a few things that said compromise."

"He came out and panicked the heck out us. He talked about the higher interest rates for mortgages. He talked about the spiking credit card. He talked about how hard it's going to be to get student loans. He took us all aback because we felt he would be a compromise leader. Instead, he created tremendous fear. Tremendous fear means uncertainty. Uncertainty means no spending. Uncertainty means no spending by business. Uncertainty means to hiring. It was a setback. He caused the panic, not the media."

There's an outcry coming from Progressives at this point, including myself and any way you look at it, John Boehner will need Democratic votes to get something done in the HOUSE.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, today released the following statement on the emerging debt deal via email:

“This deal trades peoples’ livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it. Progressives have been organizing for months to oppose any scheme that cuts Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, and it now seems clear that even these bedrock pillars of the American success story are on the chopping block. Even if this deal were not as bad as it is, this would be enough for me to fight against its passage. This deal does not even attempt to strike a balance between more cuts for the working people of America and a fairer contribution from millionaires and corporations. The very wealthy will continue to receive taxpayer handouts, and corporations will keep their expensive federal giveaways. Meanwhile, millions of families unfairly lose more in this deal than they have already lost. I will not be a part of it. Republicans have succeeded in imposing their vision of a country without real economic hope. Their message has no public appeal, and Democrats have had every opportunity to stand firm in the face of their irrational demands. Progressives have been rallying support for the successful government programs that have meant health and economic security to generations of our people. Today we, and everyone we have worked to speak for and fight for, were thrown under the bus. We have made our bottom line clear for months: a final deal must strike a balance between cuts and revenue, and must not put all the burden on the working people of this country. This deal fails those tests and many more. The Democratic Party, no less than the Republican Party, is at a very serious crossroads at this moment.

For decades Democrats have stood for a capable, meaningful government – a government that works for the people, not just the powerful, and that represents everyone fairly and equally. This deal weakens the Democratic Party as badly as it weakens the country. We have given much and received nothing in return. The lesson today is that Republicans can hold their breath long enough to get what they want. While I believe the country will not reward them for this in the long run, the damage has already been done. A clean debt ceiling vote was the obvious way out of this, and many House Democrats have been saying so. Had that vote failed, the president should have exercised his Fourteenth Amendment responsibilities and ended this manufactured crisis. This deal is a cure as bad as the disease. I reject it, and the American people reject it. The only thing left to do now is repair the damage as soon as possible.”

Move On:

"We urge the White House and all in Congress to keep negotiating for a deal that protects Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid and asks millionaires to pay their fair share,"

UPDATE I: Dick Durbin agrees with me and says that this debt ceiling vote is killing Keynesian economics.

UPDATE II: Sam Stein: Harry Reid Tentatively Signs Off On Debt Ceiling Deal

UPDATE III: CNN's Money says that spending cuts now are not good for the economy:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- If the debt ceiling goes up, government spending is most likely going down. And with the economy grinding to a halt, the timing couldn't be worse...read on

UPDATE IV: Greg Sargent is shrill.

UPDATE V: And as I figured, Boehner's trying to reduce defense spending cuts in the deal:

House Speaker John A. Boehner was attempting to scale back the $350 billion in immediate Pentagon cuts that would be included in the initial $1 trillion in spending cuts. Democrats said Mr. Boehner was also trying to minimize the amount of automatic cuts to defense spending that would occur if a special congressional committee was unable to reach a broader agreement later this year.