Debt Ceiling Crisis For Dummies

I think we can agree that everyone knows what debt is, and at this point should know that the United States has a ton of it.  Trillions of it.  So what's the debt ceiling all about and does it really matter?  Oh yeah.  Big Time.  We could be back in a full scale recession in a couple of months.The problem that the Obama administration is facing is that they need to borrow more money to run the country and more importantly pay their debt payments.  In order to do that, they need the Republican Majority congress to pass a "credit limit" increase.  And of course, with it being politics, nothing ever gets done.  Democrats and Republicans both agree that something has to be done about the nation's debt.  That's about all they can agree on.  How to cut spending, or raise taxes, and even the health care reform has been dragged back into this debate.

What happens if the ceiling isn't raised?  The US misses it's payments.  That's not a good thing.  Interest rates could drive up, and the US dollar would lose value.  Some experts say we would be back into a full recession.  One thing is clear, we need to raise the ceiling, and then focus on actually fixing the nation's budget deficit.  Sounds a lot easier than it really is.

Everything I've told you up to this point, is basically facts.  Now here comes my opinion, like it or not.

This country needs to focus on things that actually matter.  We spend way too much time bickering about issues that aren't even issues.  We need to quit wasting tax dollars on stupid studies and research that will just be proven wrong later.

This one is tough to swallow, but think about it.  We need to take care of ourselves first. As a country we need to remember that before we shell out billions of dollars in world aid, that we have homeless people here and we are in a financial mess.  Let's spend more time fixing things at home.