"Compromise" is the buzzword spoken by Democrats when they no longer have the votes to pass legislation without Republican votes. Of course, "compromise" to them means achieving their objectives more slowly, with Republicans abandoning their objectives altogether.
From S&P statement justifying U.S. credit downgrade, 8/5/11
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/?assetID=1245316529563
"We lowered our long-term rating on the U.S. because we believe that the
prolonged controversy over raising the statutory debt ceiling and the related
fiscal policy debate indicate that further near-term progress containing the
growth in public spending, especially on entitlements, or on reaching an
agreement on raising revenues is less likely than we previously assumed and
will remain a contentious and fitful process...
The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as
America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective,
and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt
ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in
the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year's wide-ranging debate, in our
view, the differences between political parties have proven to be
extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting
agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program
that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently."
I would note that it was the Democratic position was to merely raise the debt ceiling without taking any steps to reduce the rate at which the debt expands. Republicans passed legislation to raise the debt ceiling well before the alleged deadline. The Democrats passed nothing, prefering to play brinksmanship in the hopes the Republicans would have to capitulate as the deadlined approached. That's what happened.
S&P very clearly stated it was agnostic on whether to reduce the rate of growth of the debt through spending cuts or tax increases. Somehow, their statement is being reintrepreted as a demand that the legislature raise taxes, and used as a basis for blaming the Republicans for being the ones that won't do their jobs, when the underlying facts are that the Democrats are unwilling to cut spending in any meaningful way.
