“The United States now seems likely to escape from the debt limit showdown with its credit rating intact. The United States government may not be so lucky with its reputation.”

So says The New York Times today upon news that Congress has finally got a deal over the line.

That’s not to say many people are happy about it.

The Tea Party and the Left are united in their loathing.

So far the winning soundbite goes to Representa­tive Emanuel Cleaver, who called it “a sugar-coat­ed Satan sandwich”. Jeff Jarvis seems to have temporarily hung up his #f-ckyouwashington hash tag and replaced it with #HillaryForPresident.

The problem is, the brinkmanship over the debt ceiling is only one example of how an increasingly sclerotic US political system is capable of damaging not merely the US economy but the global economy. The US economy is already dangerously close to stall speed, and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts, however necessary to address the deficit steadily accumulated since George W. Bush took his country into two wars while cutting taxes, will further undermine demand.

Congress has been living in a world of business-as-usual while US house prices slide and employment growth peters out. A last-minute deal in the shadows of default will, after the relief rally ends, do little to inspire confidence that the management of the US economy is in the hands of sensible, mature policymakers.

And there’s an election year just five months away. There’s no evidence the economic policy paralysis in Washington DC will not get a lot worse before it gets better — assuming it ever does.