Specifics of the McConnell plan are still being discussed, but the general approach would require over $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over ten years, while granting President Obama the authority to extend the debt ceiling through the 2012 election season

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Some variation of the proposals of Senator Mitch McConnell can be the end solution of the Debt Ceiling Impasse : 

Huffington Post -
McConnell Plan For Debt Ceiling May Be Final Answer, Insiders Say -
By Zach Carter and Alex Becker -
July 17, 2011


McConnell Plan For Debt Ceiling May Be Final Answer, Insiders Say


Some excerpts :

WASHINGTON -- A key liberal insider and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) indicated on Sunday that the final debt ceiling deal will likely resemble something akin to what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) unveiled earlier this week, despite bipartisan derison of the plan.

John Podesta, who runs the Center for American Progress, a think tank with extremely close ties to the Obama administraion, said on "Fox News Sunday" that McConnell's plan is the likely endgame for current debt talks. Nobody in the administration has indicated what they believe the outcome of the debt negotiations are likely to be.

"I don't like it, but I think it is probably some version of McConnell, which is cut the deficit now by 1.3 or 1.4 trillion dollars, get the debt limit passed… and then fight it out next year in the election," Podesta said. "President Obama will frame it and Republicans can answer."

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"That doesn't pass the Senate," Kyl said on ABC's "This Week." When asked what kind of deal could be approved, Kyl pointed to McConnell.

"Well, it's McConnell-Reid, yes," Kyl said. "That's what the Senate is proceeding with. Now, the House of Representatives has to make its decision about what it will do. But ... at the end of the day, I don't think there'll be a default."

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