Oh yeah, we're pretty much fucked. Even if they raised the debt ceiling two hours from now, we'd still be fucked in the longterm. Why? It's the same reason they are all playing politics with this issue. And it's the only reason for this super insane partisan loyalty. It's also the only reason that the two Rep Senators (Gang of Six) not running for re-election are actually agreeing to tax increases - and one of them is mega-fiscal conservative Tom Coburn. It's not about principles in the least for the super vast majority of ALL of them, Reps and/or Dems.
Special interests/lobbyists = $$$ = re-elections.
It really is that simple.
Nothing could possibly illustrate this better than the Norquist charade.
If these Reps agreed to tax hikes, they would be committing political suicide because of that particular special interest. And more or less, that's how all of it works. That's why the health care bill was done behind closed doors and written by the insurance industry themselves. It's really not that hard to figure out. This is the game of US politics. And this is why a few of us knew that Obama's 2008 rhetoric was pure nonsense.