House torpedoes unconditional hike to $14.3 trillion debt ceiling

Good news indeed: The House tonight overwhelmingly voted down an unconditional hike to $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.

The vote was 318-97, with 82 Democrats joining every Republican in rejecting legislation that would have authorized $2.4 trillion in additional borrowing by the federal government. Seven Democrats voted present on the legislation.

Now comes the business of tying the increase in the debt ceiling to some real spending reduction.