The Tea Party held up the process, with no taxes, and that was cited as a big reason for the debt downgrade. Yes, entitlements can be fixed to reflect decreased revenues, but the Bush tax cuts were crucial in the downgrade. The brinkmanship of the Tea Party was crucial to the downgrade. And the Tea Party is incredibly stupid because they want banks to blow more real estate bubbles. That is why they don't want tax increases on the wealthy.
Here is proof of Tea Party and Republican stupidity and guilty alliances with hedge funds.Archive Link