We weren't going to default until next week, because if no deal had been reached by Tuesday the feds would've cut off financing to various government agencies (i.e. a government shutdown like the one in '95) to prevent an immediate default. If no bill had passed the markets would've tanked (which they'd already begun doing anyway), SS checks wouldn't have been issued and Moodys would've downgraded our bond rating at the start of the week instead of S&P doing it at the end of the week. At that point House Republicans take whatever Obama puts on the table because even the Tea Party lunatics wouldn't be able to keep saying not raising the debt ceiling was no big deal. Unfortunately, the only thing Obama ABSOLUTELY wanted out of this was a deal he wouldn't have to re-visit until after the 2012 election, and that's the only thing he got. It's poetic justice that it won't do him any good because he probably won't be the President who takes this issue up again in 2013. It's probably going to be Romney, which means God help Americas seniors, poor and/or seriously ill, because their President won't help them any more than the current one has.

When Obama told Cantor he would hold the line on tax hikes in the debt ceiling talks even if it cost him the Presidency he was blowing smoke. Far worse, that's now painfully obvious to Cantor, God and everybody now; Republicans need only run out the clock on the final months of the abortive Obama administration, unless they just WANT to force the issue on things, in which case they can stubbornly hold to all their demands until the President caves like he did on the debt ceiling and the healthcare bill.

All of that said, I agree that you can't just dump all the blame on Obama for refusing to stand up to Republican insanity; on the other hand, his election represents the American public repudiation of the same laissez-faire policies he's continued, so I see no reason to keep him in office. The only difference between Obama and McCain or Romney is that they openly admit what policies they want but Obama claims to represent "change" so he can sell those same policies to a public sick of them. Time for a third option, or rather, a legitimate second option.