The S&P downgrade is our first taste of pain.

I like William Saletan. I like almost every article he ever wrote for Slate.

And I like his essay on the debt ceiling mess very much, even though his predictions are deeply uncomfortable:

Medicare will be cut deeply, no matter what Democrats say. . . .

Taxes will go up, no matter what Republicans say. . . . .

The middle, in the end, will rule.