Dave, the S.P said before the debt ceiling debate that they wanted to see 4 trillion in cuts over ten years, we only cut 2.5 trillion which is mostly back loaded. If it wasn't for the Tea Party, that 2.5 trillion would have been one trillion.
You may remember that the plan Obama was pushing was a 4 Trillion cut. That was scuttled because the tea party republicans would rather see us crippled than put the tax rate back where it was 10 years ago - when we had a surplus.
Had Bush left things alone and began using the surplus to pay down the debt we would not be in this fix. Instead he started two wars and a big new prescription program with no funding for any of them. Then he cut taxes - primarily for the wealthy. The dems like to tax and spend, but in recent years the republicans liked to spend and borrow. Both get blame for the deficit which has been growing since before Reagan, but the failure to solve the current mess rests firmly with the republican’s unwillingness to tax their base.
We can eliminate the problem quite rapidly if we make the cuts Obama and Boehner agreed to and put the tax rate back where it was. The only "crisis" here is due to pure political posturing. Why are the Republicans so unwilling to make any sacrifices for their country?