It's easy to blame Pelosi, Reed, and Krugman on this one, but the sad fact is that Republicans haven't done much better when they have had the oppurtunity to make a real difference. Sure, the Pubs can talk tough about the deficit and debt when they only control the House and they know that any "tough-talk" budget legislation will never get past Reid and Obama, but the Pubs have done nothing meaningful when they have been in a position to make a real difference, like when we controlled the executive branch and both houses of Congress under Bush.
It’s easy to blame Pelosi and Reed and Krugman because they are very guilty. The Republicans haven’t done much better true, but because of reason 5) in the original article, not reason 1). There’s a world of difference between not doing something because its to your personal advantage and to hell with everyone else, and on the other hand not doing something because its not possible politically to do.