US debt ceilin

Spectators watch as President Biden takes off in Marine One. Susan Walsh/AP  

Analysis: The debacle shows that the debt ceiling must be abolished

 With the settlement of the debt ceiling, Joe Biden's election promises that increased corporate taxes should pay for welfare reforms have drawn their last breath for this term. At the same time, Donald Trump's tax cuts from 2017 appear to be secured until at least the end of 2025. That's what Reuters' David Lawder writes in a comment.  

"Biden's lack of tax reforms from the election campaign illustrates the political difficulty of changing the US tax code if you lack a clear majority in Congress," he writes.  

Bloomberg's Jonathan Bernstein writes that the US can finally breathe a sigh of relief because politicians won't blow up the economy. At least this time.  

He, too, emphasizes the importance of controlling the entire Congress and the White House in order to scrap a useless debt ceiling that is unprecedented in other countries. 

The only positive thing about the debacle is that the Democrats seem to have become even more convinced that the cap must be abolished and that they will be much more eager to do it the next time they have the chance.  

The Wall Street Journal's Daniel Henninger writes that it is difficult to overestimate the importance of Biden's concessions regarding spending. He believes that the Democrats underestimated the changes in public opinion that ultimately forced Biden to compromise.  

The president bet that a state bankruptcy was out of the question even for the Republicans. But the voters not only wanted to raise the debt ceiling, but also to see the government hold back on spending, writes Henninger.

Biden fell forward during ceremony - was helped up  

During a graduation ceremony at the US Air Force University in Colorado on Thursday, President Joe Biden fell forward as he was about to leave the stage, several media reports. 

The president was helped up by his bodyguards and left in his own car, apparently unharmed.  

It is not the first time that Biden loses his balance and creates headlines - in the spring of 2021, clips were spread of how he repeatedly fell over on his way up the stairs to the presidential plane.