China bluntly tells the US it must 'cure its addiction to debts' and 'live within its means'

THE DEBT ADDICTION: China tells the United States to cure it. "The days when the debt-ridden Uncle Sam could leisurely squander unlimited overseas borrowing appeared to be numbered."..."The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone." The Post reports: "The editorial’s harsh tone was a striking contrast from recent weeks, during the weeks-long debt debate impasse in Washington between the White House and congressional Republicans, when China — through its officially controlled media — chose largely to keep silent on what was considered U.S. domestic political wrangling. But the surprise ratings downgrade Friday by Standard & Poor’s, which could very likely affect the value of China’s Treasury securities holdings, seems to have prompted China’s leaders to take a more outspoken, and critical, stance." They're certainly not holding back; that's for sure.

CAUSE OF THE CRISIS: The Washington Post picks it apart. "The frantic showdown that followed, bringing the nation to the brink of default, looked like the haphazard escalation of a typical partisan standoff. It wasn’t. It was the natural outgrowth of a years-long effort by GOP recruiters to build a new majority and reverse the party’s fortunes. That effort began before the economy collapsed in 2008, before the government bailouts that followed, before the tea party rose in response to push its anti-tax, anti-spending message."