I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but ...
... for ^%*^'s sake, FIX IT!
Compromise and consensus-building -- that's what leadership in politics is. This death-match of a debt-ceiling charade is all pompous partisan posturing for an election cycle still many crises away. I have a father in a nursing home dependent on his social security check and two nephews who rely on the military for a paycheck, so let's figure this out and move beyond it as quickly as possible. (As we've done scores of times since 1917, apparently.)
[As an aside, having grown up in Lebanon County, PA -- I do have to admit that my first thought when I heard about the Gang of Six was to wonder whether they all had blue eyes. If you're from there, you'll get that. If not, you'll just think I'm loonier than normal today.]
There are so many other more important issues to debate and discuss, and more action to be demanded from those in our government. For instance, we may have started the troop withdrawal, but there are still casualties happening daily -- and lives can be saved with a few simple improvements. The Army and Marines are slowly rolling out silk underwear for their boys (and their boys' bits) as special protection against IEDs. Kevlar bike shorts, titanium athletic cups, heavyweight assless chaps -- this isn't the Christmas list for a fetishist, but actual items that need to be rushed to our troops to fight this very special "modern" warfare.
On the back of the debacle with helmets that barely protected a soldier's cranium (which was met by an outpouring of support from private citizens to send helmet upgrades to our troops at risk), you'd have thought we'd have spent some of this money to improve the basic uniform and to get those improvements to those in harm's way immediately.
I've checked my tax receipt for the year (type in your 2010 tax numbers and see how your money was spent at www.whitehouse.gov/taxreceipt) and I most surely don't want any more of it to go to paying interest because our rates were raised because our leadership groups couldn't think long term about our country's future -- especially when there are so many other pressing monetary demands that translate to saving lives.
As one of my favorite SNL characters of late says (Keenan Thompson's angry old man) -- FIX IT!
THEY CALL THEM BALLISTIC BOXERS:
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-19/us/army.protective.gear_1_boxers-head-protection-kevlar?_s=PM:US
IT's THIS GENERATION's ROSIE THE RIVETER MOMENT:
http://www.operation-helmet.org/contribute.html
I "GAVE" $650 FOR MILITARY EQUIPMENT IN 2010!:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/taxreceipt
FIX IT!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3uxqwTxk0
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