[TheRealThing]

Check it out. I hate the deficit/debt as much as anyone, but if you think that a small downgrade from AAA to AA plus is bad? Think about it this way: That occurred with us PAYING our bills. Imagine had we not raised the debt, and NOT paid our bills.

As a radical conservative on fiscal issues, I believe the debt ceiling to be borderline unconstitutional, and I'm comfortable saying that. The 14th amendment can and should be used if congress ever fails to raise the ceiling. The fact is, Congress is the ONLY entity that can authorize spending now and in the future, thus they HAVE to raise the debt ceiling or else the credibility of that very body must be called into question. Some of you guys on here need a lesson in civics. You can hate the politics, but you must respect the rule of law, and ethical government. I fall into this category.

I'll go that route but, my understanding of the nature of the fight over the debt ceiling is this. The new debt ceiling and any subsequent budget after the date of the bill up through 2013, included discretionary and entitlement spending increases that total an additional 10-ish trillion to be added to our already ludacris national debt. All the infighting was over the fact that a democratically controlled US Senate, who has a bigger gavel and consequently, ultimately, the upper hand in any argument between the two houses, held the proccess up until they could get the bill THEY wanted. Thus, even though the house sent up legislation, the senate, not willing to comply with law, "all spending legislation must originate in the US House of Repersentatives", tabled everything the house sent up. The impasse boiled, up until at last, with the dead line having ticked down to the 11:59 hour, the house was forced to agree to a spending bill authored by the senate leader and, full of spendiing cuts that are in fact nothing more than smoke and mirrors or, send our nation into default.

Then, the dems blamed the right, for the very breaches of law and ethics they had in chambers just committed. And, gasp!, people are actually buying it!