They should have closed the loopholes, though. I'll never understand the TEA insistence on seeing that as a "tax increase."
How do you think job creation is going to be affected by our being downgraded? What will interest rates be like for small businesses?
It would have been easier to close some loopholes & show a good faith effort to increase revenue.
I would have been good with that, if they also passed the BBA and sent it to the states for ratification. For that I would have given up much, and happily. The problem is "promising" to spend less has never worked. Reagan signed that "compromise" and then Obama tried to use it against him. They promised $3 of cuts for every $1 of tax increase and they never, ever, delivered. It didn't happen. We've learned our lesson.