Despite all the snarling and gnashing of teeth, there has been progress in the debt ceiling negotiations.

With the Aug. 2 deadline for increasing the federal debt ceiling looming ever closer, it looks like outlines of a bipartisan agreement are beginning to form.

That's no surprise. Eleventh-hour deals are common in difficult negotiations.

What is surprising is that the proposal around which legislators are gathering isn't one hammered out by President Obama and House Republicans, but by a secretive clique of U.S. senators called the "Gang of Six."

Made up of three Democratic and three Republican senators, including Illinois' Dick Durbin, the group has been holding regular meetings over the past few months to craft a bipartisan agreement aimed at bringing federal spending under control.

The Aug. 2 deadline on the debt ceiling provides the necessary incentive for some tough decisions. Unless the debt ceiling is increased, the federal government will not be able to borrow enough money to pay all its bills, setting the stage for a default that could send shock waves through the world's financial markets.

Republicans are willing to raise the debt ceiling, but they've insisted on spending cuts designed to get a handle on the out-of-control spending that has pushed this country's debt to more than $13 trillion, a dangerously high level.

For his part, President Obama has insisted on significant tax increases while warning that he might withhold August Social Security payments if no agreement is reached.

President Obama's candor is welcome, especially as it relates to Social Security. He has confirmed what many people have been warning about Social Security, that it is un-sustainable in its current form and that there is not enough money to pay what is owed even though the Social Security trust fund holds trillions of dollars in federal bonds.

But those must be cashed in to pay Social Security benefits, and that requires the federal government to borrow more money and increase government debt.

Much of the plan by the "Gang of Six" is based on recommendations contained in a report prepared by Obama's debt commission.

Headed by former Republican U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson and Democratic politico Erskine Bowles. the commission earlier this year recommended a broad array of spending cuts, tweaks to Social Security spending and a rewrite of the tax code that requires lowering personal and corporate tax rates as well as the elimination of many costly deductions.

The recommendations of the "Gang of Six" have yet to be spelled out in complete form, and there is concern that time is too short for everything they recommend to be adopted by Aug. 2.

But the Aug. 2 deadline matters only as it relates to the debt ceiling.

What's important is that any agreement reached be honored by both sides after the debt ceiling is raised.

The debt ceiling/spending/taxing debate is incredibly difficult, and that's because this country's debt problem is incredibly difficult — potentially disastrous unless addressed in a meaningful way.

It's apparent that neither side can have its own way.

Democrats control the presidency and the U.S. Senate while Republicans control the House. Compromise is unavoidable, much as zealots on both sides of the debate may hate it.

Although crafted in secret, an unfortunate precedent in a democratic society, the "Gang of Six" plan looks like it offers enough of what both sides say they want to win majority votes in the Senate and House. Further, it looks to be a substantive proposal aimed at fixing a horrific problem.