This ought to be good. The republicans are taking the position that in order to raise the debt ceiling, the democrats have to agree to all these budget cuts without even being able to bring up the issue of governmental revenues. This shows just how dumb the republicans are.

But remember the Michael Moore movie about George W. Bush? Remember the clip of Bush addressing a bunch of superrich people? He said something like, "some people call you the elite - I call you my base?" Well the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Don't the republicans understand that the rich people are just a small minority of people, and the overwhelming majority don't make a lot of money and need a little help from the government to get by? Of course, those on the left don't really trust Obama anymore to hold the line on these kinds of things, but here, he has such an advantage, that I think he will. Let's see how the day goes.

People are not well educated about the national debt. We've had national debt pretty much since the beginning of our country. Yes, we've accumulated a lot lately, but it's been both parties that have contributed. A good analysis of the last century of national debt can be found at http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/deficits.html.

A poll I saw recently found that 41% of americans don't want to raise the debt ceiling, while 38% said it was ok. That leaves 21% who don't know. But for those that don't want to raise it, what are they basing that on? Do they think that the U.S. can just default on our obligations and not cause havoc in the world? The markets are rocked these days by the possiblities of debt restructuring in such countries as Greece and Portugal. These are not giant economies. What do you think would happen if the U.S. says that it's going to default, or have to go through some kind of major debt restructuring?

Actually, I do believe that eventually the whole world is going to have to go thru some kind of planned debt restructuring. Unless we can get our wars and environment under control that is. That's the only way that it can be avoided, in my opinion. But if it's done in an ad hoc way, the consequences could be significant.

But let's get real here. While Obama has run some large deficits, and that needs to be addressed, this isn't the only problem we face by a long shot. As many economists have pointed out, if the debt problem is so bad, why is U.S. debt being readily bought by investors each time that it is put up for sale? If there was serious worry about our ability to pay over time, would people still be investing?

It's silly politics with little basis in fact. And, in the long run it's a loser for the republicans. But I full well expect McConnell to make statements today about how unreasonable the democrats are to suggest that the wealthiest interests in the country chip in a little more to help with our debt. And he will drive the republicans further down each time he says it.