Debt ceiling battle

[dirving]

Whose side are you taking in this debt ceiling battle going on? I personally think that Obama and the White House (not so much the Democratic party as a whole) are setting themselves to be the real victors here. I say this because Obama put out all these spending cuts, reforms, along with tax increases on the wealthy in 2013. The GOP declined that, and now we are looking at our country going into default. I also find it interesting that polls came out today showing that 67% of Americans approve of raising taxes on the wealthy and on corporations in order to fix the deficit along with spending cuts. What is your view on this matter?

[Perfect7]

I don't know that much about the battle, but in my opinion, government needs to go back to "SERVE & PROTECT" (its original purpose) and quit trying to handle things it wasn't created for. Small government, budget a little *less* than income, and paying OFF debt!

[sunshine]

One of the biggest problems facing either political party is this - long term solutions.  There simply aren't as many "rich" people to tax because the state of the economy.  Simply put, America does not manufacture many things any more, and because of our high cost of living/expenses, cannot compete on a global market.  When everyone works, there is a larger population to share in the expenses.  With so many people out of work, the possible avenues to collect money via taxes has dwindled considerably.  It is vitally important to get America working again, and it is going to take jobs to do it!  Manufacturing is critical for our economy.  For every product that is made in America, many more jobs spawn from it.  Think of it - if you make purple widgets, you will need the raw materials to make it.  The company will have to buy the products they need to make the widgets.  This could involve many companies - each comany has employees producing the product they need.  It then needs to be shipped - enter freight companies, and more employees!  Once this raw material arrives at the factory, many people are needed to assembly the purple widget and send it out to the customer.  There is a huge trickle down effect for manufacturing products.  Instead of bailing out failing banks, invest in Americans and in jobs.  It is a long term objective, but it is very much needed to pull us out of this economic meltdown.