As much as I hate to say it, I'm thinking the worst consequence of this debt ceiling debacle may be a republican president. Not many Americans understood what the debt ceiling debate was about, even those who paid attention, let alone who was to blame.
For those who don't follow politics, the only thing they see is that for the first time in history, the nation's credit was downgraded. It's going to have negative consequences, if only on the nation's psyche.
What will a republican president mean? That depends on how much control republicans have in Congress. But I'd count on a huge shrinkage of government, mostly Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security since those are the most expensive programs. Healthcare will surely be repealed. EPA and the Department of Education may be on the chopping block, or shrunk, depending how much say the tea party gets.
The singular republican goal will be: Shrink government because they believe that smaller government will create more jobs.
The trend of more wealth in fewer hands will escalate.
Republicans will reduce the deficit, but it will be done on the backs of the poor, since they've proven themselves to be absolutely against raising taxes. There will be fewer safety nets for the most vulnerable.
I'd expect another full-on war too. It's a favored republican way of showing that America is great while boosting the economy. Republicans aren't going to be as enlightened as Obama is on foreign policy.
John Kerry tries to reframe the downgrade, a little too late. He speaks first on the Navy SEAL deaths:
More on the downgrade today from Larry Summers and Steve Forbes: Watch.
Steve Forbes rips Obama but says it all in the end, if you had $1,000 to invest, put it in the stock market because the economy is going to turn around in about a year, which voids all of what he said about how Obama's policies are ruining America. Forbes also said the S&P downgrade is BS, as did Summers, as did Axelrod: Watch.
The roundtable includes Rachel Maddow, one of the smartest commentators there is, and Austan Goolsbee. For what it's worth, Alan Greenspan says the economy is slowing, but a double dip recession isn't likely:
