It should have taught us that one’s credit rating is based less on one’s history of honoring one’s obligations than it is on the perception of one’s ability and willingness to act responsibly.

Announcing plans to spend trillions of dollars, 40% of which must be borrowed, betrays an utter lack of responsibility or an abject denial of the gravity of one’s financial predicament. Further, announcing plans to hobble one’s means of earning the income required to meet one’s obligations indicates a loss of touch with economic reality.