In response to the OP, I had some hopes yes. But I suppose I gave partisan politics in the US a bit too much credit. I liked Obama's reply to the failure last night, saying that these legislated budget cuts are not changing and he will veto any moves to do so - smart politics as well as smart in practise. The legislature needs a real kick up the arse for mucking up an opportunity like this, I mean its $1.5tn in cuts over a decade, so $150bn a year; the US economy is into the many many trillions of dollars, so its not like they are going to be raping the people or anything.
This last three year patch will likely go down in the history of the world as one of the worst instances of political shit fighting ever seen. Its just as if they simply don't understand the implications of poor action or inaction. Its not even about future generations, its about this generation that is going to be completely left behind due to poor economic policy and no opportunity.