The Budget Control Act of 2011

On July 31, 2011, President Obama announced an agreement to reduce the deficit and avoid a default. John Avlon: If Congress failed to produce a deficit reduction bill with at least 1.2 trillion in cuts, they would opt to increase the debt ceiling by the same amount. He says this would prompt across-the-board spending cuts equally affecting defense and non-defense programs. Avlon: The budget was dealt with and Obama came through unscathed. But then we had to deal with it a few years down the road.