Last week's failure of the US Congressional Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction, more popularly known as the supercommittee, was no super surprise but was a super disappointment. As things stand now, budget cuts of $1.2 trillion are scheduled to automatically take effect in January, 2013 evenly divided between defense and other programs. About the only thing both sides seem to agree is that this could damage the military and government services such as law enforcement, food inspection and transportation safety. In my opinion the Republicans deserve the lion's share of the blame. However I don't believe that the Fat Lady has quite yet sung. There is also a cautionary note for China.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, let me admit that I am biased. As the great American humorist Will Rogers once said "I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat." Nevertheless, I yearn for the return of the good old days of bipartisanship in American politics. In the past in times of real crisis, politicians in America rose above their selfish short-term interests and placed the good of the country before all else. This mindset is sorely lacking today in the midst of the national and international economic crises that could easily envelop not only the US and Europe, but China and the rest of the world as well. This is no time for Republican brinksmanship but for bipartisan statesmanship.

Let me cite two examples.

The first is from my home state of Michigan in the person of Republican senator, Arthur Vandenberg. Vandenberg was a rabid reactionary and enemy of big government who would be right at home with today's Tea Partiers. He opposed much of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal social legislation. In foreign affairs he was completely isolationist. Yet in 1945 he changed his position on foreign affairs and admitted that isolationism was a mistake. On becoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1947 he worked together with President Harry S Truman and is still revered for garnering bipartisan support for programs such as the Marshall Plan and NATO.

The second example is from the sixties. President John F. Kennedy had proposed sweeping Civil Rights legislation which was vehemently opposed by segregationist Southern senators. After Kennedy's assassination, President Lyndon Johnson, himself a former segregationist and facing an upcoming election, took up Kennedy's mantle at a time when 18 Southern Democrats opposed the legislation, even staging a 57-day filibuster preventing it or any other Senate business from taking place. The landmark legislation was enacted only after Democratic majority leader Mike Mansfield and Republican senator Everett Dirksen agreed to work together. As a result, 27 Republicans cast their votes in favor of the bill.

These two cases exemplify the spirit of patriotic Americans who put country ahead of personal success or short-term national gain that JFK wrote about in his book Profiles in Courage. "Grace under pressure" he called it. Grace, however, has been a rare commodity in Washington for the last few decades when it is so sorely needed.

Congress and the president have to address this issue next year. Being both a Congressional and presidential election year, it's the worst possible time for politicians to make important and unpopular budgetary decisions. This is especially true now when just 9% of voters approve of the job Congress is doing, compared to 83% who disapprove. And as for the president only 22% approve of his overall job performance, while 40% strongly disapprove. If the situation remains unresolved, voters will surely take it out on incumbents on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue.

There are signs however that all is not lost. There is bipartisan sentiment in Congress to "go big". As President Richard Nixon was fond of saying: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going".

Events may force action. If the American economy or dollar tank, legislators will have little choice but to act.

I also believe that some Republicans are perfectly happy to have manufactured this crisis by refusing to reinstate taxing the richest Americans. Republicans are no fans of central government. Such sentiments actually pre-date the country's founding. With the exception of defense and a few other programs, many want to eliminate as much of the rest of the government as possible. David Stockman, President Ronald Reagan's budget director called it "starving the beast."

All this may not be such terrific news for China either. I am not necessarily only talking about the huge write-down that could take place in China's massive investment in American debt. When things get tough and there are no easy answers, scapegoats are sought. Hitler did it to the Jews when the German economy was broken and we have heard American voices in the halls of power in Washington pointing fingers toward China. Thankfully, recent public opinion polls show that Americans are not, at least yet, falling for this poisonous bait.