Ladies and Gentlemen We Have a Budget

Maybe... kinda, sorta?

Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray unveiled a two-year budget agreement late Tuesday night that they say will end years of bitter budget wars on Capitol Hill.

The framework would set spending levels above the $967 billion cap established by the sequester; the budget for 2014 would be set at $1.012 trillion, and the budget for 2015 would be $1.014 trillion. 

The bipartisan package includes $63 billion of “sequester relief,” $85 billion of total savings, and $23 billion in net deficit reduction.

When did we stop talking about mandatory spending?

I was a little confused at first, after having looked at four or five different articles citing the "1.012 trillion dollar budget" until I realized that they were only talking about discretionary spending.

As a reminder, the 2014 requested budget, including mandatory spending was 3.77 trillion and a 744 billion deficit.  So presumably when they say a "$23 billion net deficit reduction" that means the actual deficit will only be $721 billion.

NBC

Politico

The House passed the budget bill Thursday 332-94, that will reverse some automatic cuts and set spending levels for the next two years in an effort to prevent another government shutdown.