It's becoming more and more clear that 2008 was indeed One Big A$$ Mistake America, but this debt deal isn't solely his fault. He's ultimately going to be responsible for a lot of the expenditures leading up to it, but this process wasn't something he could do much about. In the end, the bill that was passed is a complete joke with respect to deficit control: $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years on projected spending of $46 trillion (about 5% cut), with an increase in the debt ceiling by approximately the same amount over the next TWO years, and the largest areas of spending in dire need of reform, like social security, medicare, etc., are going to be off limits anyway. The major ratings agencies wanted $4+ trillion in cuts... neither side ever produced anything approaching that. Add to it the polarized political climate and the downgrade is self explanatory.

Both sides are at fault here. No one is serious about controlling spending. No one has the integrity to admit responsibility. The only thing they care about is staying in office. It's all just theater -- people need to understand the pervasiveness of leadership failure.