By Pulitzer Prize-winnning cartoonist Matt Davies. Read more at http://davies.lohudblogs.com/

Back in the late 1950s, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev said the Communists wouldn’t have to invade the United States because it would take itself down from the inside.

I imagine he thought it would come sooner, but that day isn’t far off. With the Tea Party threatening not to allow the debt ceiling to be raised, our creditors are getting a little scared.

Financial ratings firm Standard & Poor’s moved the nation’s outlook from positive to negative, causing Treasury Bonds to fall this morning because our creditors are worried that the government has no long-term fiscal policy.

Both President Obama and the Tea Party-backed Republicans in Congress have plans to reduce the deficit by up to $4 trillion over the next decade, but they’re nothing alike, and the Republicans have shown their unwillingness to negotiate on anything.

Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan cuts everything but the military, and it pretty much strangles Medicare. It also preserves the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while shredding the safety net that protects our most vulnerable people from catastrophe.

Their games can only result in skittish creditors and increased interest rates, which will cost us more and more.

After the announcement, the Dow Jones industrial average was 230.53 points, or 1.87 percent lower, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index declined 23.45 points, or 1.78 percent. The technology heavy Nasdaq lost 55.81 points, or 2 percent.

That doesn’t sound too severe, perhaps, but the announcement is serious. Our leaders have to come together to address these financial problems, and cutting off aid to the poor while letting the wealthy cruise isn’t the answer.

We’re still not creating jobs (Where are the jobs you promised, Mr. Boehner?), and people are exhausting their unemployment benefits every week.

Things are only going to get worse until we have some good-faith negotiations about the budget and about jobs.