By Diane Lim Rogers

President Obama has signed into law a bill that raises the debt ceiling and cuts spending. Democrats are reeling because revenue increases were not part of the first round of the debt-limit deal. The initial roughly $1 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years will come entirely from caps on discretionary spending, both defense and domestic.

After months of contentious negotiations, it may appear that Republicans won the debt battle by keeping taxes off the table. But Democrats won as well by keeping Social Security and Medicare benefits off-limits....