Trust me, it could get much worse. Much. What Romney has in mind would not only wreck the US economy, but his plan would result in a cascading global economic collapse (actually, it's coming anyway; he'd just accelerate the process). Would need only look at his tax/budget plans to see this. Plus, a Republican president would also accelerate the ongoing gutting of the social safety net, leading ultimately to widespread unrest, which would have happened in the 1930s had not FDR stepped in with the New Deal. Unfortunately, it required a world war to get the world economy really going again. That won't happen again (the war may; the recovery won't follow).
It would be even worse under Santorum, which thankfully isn't happening.
I agree, though both sides win (to some degree) by pleasing constituents, and one side is more concerned with (again to some to degree) the social well-being of those constituents, while the other side is concerned mainly with ideology and the financial well-being of those who pay the bills (both sides are guilty here (though one is more egregious than the other here). This is the current situation and in the end, however, I know that governments always work to perpetuate and preserve their own existence and so I trust 'it' only so far.
It would be even worse under Santorum, which thankfully isn't happening.
These days, NO ONE (almost) in politics cares about what's really going on. All they care about is that their side wins.