Yesterday morning, I had WPSD-TV, the NBC affiliate out of Paducah, on. Well, actually, I wasn't really watching it, I was preparing produce for delivery. But I did have it on. An ad came on. I remember two young girls selling lemonade. I wasn't really paying attention until the very end, when one of the girls said, "please don't raise the debt ceiling." That caught my attention.

Since then I've read up on it, and it is one of a number of ads on both sides running. But this one is particularly egregious - in fact it is sick in its thinking, in my opinion. To exploit two young females and make them say something that they have no clue as to what they are saying is beyond the pale.

These republicans, and you can go down the line now and they all are now saying it, act like the entire national debt is the responsibility of Obama and that raising the debt ceiling is something that has never been done before. And they certainly forget to mention that the raising the debt ceiling is necessary to pay for appropriations that congress has already passed. And they forget to mention that the constitution of the US guarantees the "full faith and credit" of the U.S.

In fact, the national debt goes back to the beginning of the country. We borrowed money from France (thanks to smooth talking Ben Franklin) to pay for the revolutionary war. And this current line of credit goes back to before Reagan. In fact, the debt ceiling has been raised routinely president after president, republican and democrat, for many decades. Why now are the republicans out to bankrupt the nation and cause havoc? Could it be because there is a black president? Something to ponder.

Many credible economists point out in the public debate that the national debt, while a long term issue, is not that bad yet. In fact, in my opinion, the facts bear that out. The U.S. puts up debt for sale through Treasury bond and bill sales, and even at current incredibly low rates, it all gets bought up. That is the ultimate proof that the debt isn't that bad yet. And many economists say that we need more spending from the government to stimulate the economy. Obama thought that, and started to go that way, but he couldn't get the republicans to help him with anything, and a less than adequate stimulus only helped the economy stabilize, but not recover.

The one monkey Obama has on his back is his vote against raising the debt ceiling when he was senator. That was foolish, but he says it was a mistake and he did it knowing that it was a symbolic vote and that the debt ceiling would pass anyway. But these republicans seem to want to ruin the U.S. They seem to want the markets to go down, and great instability to be introduced into the financial system. I think they just want Obama to fail, period, no matter what. That's a losing strategy, and the republicans are going to find themselves a permanent minority because of it if they don't come to their senses in the next few days.