The whole debt ceiling thing is primarily intended to hurt Obama so he won't be reelected. In fact, that's all the Republicans have tried to do since 2008.

I got an awesome email from my Rep. about the whole mess. It starts like this:

Debate over raising the debt ceiling continues and August 2nd, the day the US will reach its credit limit, is days away. If we don’t take action, the federal government simply won’t have enough money to meet all of its obligations. I have included a list of our obligations just for the month of August at the end of this correspondence.

It is important to keep in mind that the US had a balanced budget from 1998 to 2001. Those were the first balanced budgets in a generation. We accomplished it through a combination of thoughtful taxation and spending policies.

The first steps on the path toward the deficit were taken when the Bush tax cuts passed in May of 2001. Those tax cuts were implemented without any corresponding spending cuts. I voted no.

It seems like some sort of bogeyman made up of whole cloth that is not even a real problem until we started talking about it.

It seems like not a real problem because until right now, nobody ever seriously contemplated the fact that anyone, anywhere, would act so utterly, unconscionably recklessly. It wasn't a problem. It is now.

nobody ever seriously contemplated the fact that anyone, anywhere, would act so utterly, unconscionably recklessly.

Well, I did.

It seems like not a real problem because until right now, nobody ever seriously contemplated the fact that anyone, anywhere, would act so utterly, unconscionably recklessly. It wasn't a problem. It is now.

this. plus the fact that they think it would be awesome to do again in a couple months.

The whole debt ceiling thing is primarily intended to hurt Obama so he won't be reelected. In fact, that's all the Republicans have tried to do since 2008.

(1) They're only hurting themselves. I mean, really. This is unconscionable, and I think most people are seeing that. (Obviously there are always knee-jerk members of any party, who would vote for a barcalounger if it were the candidate. Not my point. I truly think the Republican party is damaging the hell out of itself with this.)

(2) They don't have a candidate. It's, what, 16 months away? If they had a viable candidate by now -- sorry, Mitt -- that person would be campaigning so hard right now he/she would be more visible than The Bieber and the cast of Glee put together.

(3) Finally, once again, on behalf of my state, I apologize for the existence of Boehner, that loathesome sack of puke.

more visible than The Bieber and the cast of Glee put together.

Maybe we should vote for them!

I feel like Obama is hurting himself a little with people on the left by being so willing to compromise. I mean, he looks reasonable, but the people I know either a) think Obama is a Muslim trying to take over the US, has caused this crisis, are spending the taxpayers money taking expensive vacations and not working and is well on the way to taking the country down or b) are disappointed and angry that that we are still at war, still have DOMA, have a not great healthcare bill, and that it is even possible that things like Social Secutiry are on the table.

For those of you worried about relatives getting older, I can tell you that, from the inside, it's scary. My body doesn't work the way it used to, I have pains that I didn't have before. I can't move as well or as fast as I used to.

And I just got back from the eye doctor; I've faced reality and I'm moving on scheduling cataract surgery.

I feel like Obama is hurting himself a little with people on the left by being so willing to compromise.

I think he's already hurt himself a lot on the left.

About 15 years ago my mother gave me a skirt she wore when I was little. She asked one thing of me: "ita, please don't wear this to work."

Sorry, ma.