Ima be blunt in the first sentence: I'm probably gonna get a lot of mental flak for this post. But, I have to solidify my position on this before it's too late. (How do I define "too late?" Well... August 2nd.)

Anyway, here's my opinion on this whole fiasco: Don't raise the debt ceiling. Period.

"B-b-b-b-b, if we hit the debt ceiling, then we'll default! And that's a BAD thing, isn't it?"

Well, yes. Default IS a bad thing. We'll be stuck, basically, with a non-working credit card, investors will flee faster than geckos when they see my dog, and our political capital will.... not be quite capital anymore.

However, the problem is here: If we hit the ceiling, it DOES NOT mean that we will default.

Hah?

Allow me to explain.

This is the solution that I, PERSONALLY, would enact had I divine fiat over the Federal Government. My ideal solution. Instead of starting to talk about debt default, which scares people sockless, I would take the "revenue" (a democratic word for TAXES...) that we make, (which, as I remember, is about 4 Trillion Dollars.... a LOT of money) and use that to pay off our debt interest, social security entitlements, and military responsibilities. In that EXACT order. Why?

Well, paying off our debt interest consistently would avert any fear of default and remove any concerns about the ceiling. This is because paying off the interest will keep our debt to our lenders at the same, stagnant amount, until we stabilize our economy enough to start paying off the actual debt. It won't rise, so we don't need to worry about passing the ceiling.

Paying off social security because... well... we gave our seniors our promise that we would take care of them. (A FOOLISH promise, given the fact that social security is MASSIVELY insolvent--In Plain Terms: it wouldn't be able to do what it's supposed to do) It's also our single biggest expenditure, which means that if we that and keep it in control, a large chunk of internal cost will be curbed.

Military, because.... well..... it's no good if we have our money under control, and we're all dead. :-)

btw, those THREE costs TOGETHER equal.... about 500 Billion, liberally. We've got plenny money from "revenue" to pay all this off. It would hold off default, fulfill our promises, and protect us. Our bare essentials to preserve the US.

Now, why is this only IDEAL? Well, honestly, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA. Representative Pat Toomey presented a plan to do something similar to this, called the "Full Faith and Credit Act," and it has been basically ignored. I do not know why. If anyone can explain this to me, please do. Because I am absolutely befuddled.

We WILL, at the rate we're going, hit the debt ceiling. But, that DOES NOT necessarily mean that we will default. If we enact Toomey's plan, we won't need to worry about "Giving the Alcoholic the Bottle," as Mr. Will Estrada called it. To me, this is the best option. No fear mongering. No red herrings. No straw men. Just GET THE PROBLEM FIXED.

Bottom Line: We can't be playing around with extra costs that will make our life "nice." Rail and Public Healthcare is warm and fuzzy. But we HAVE to sacrifice those things in order to preserve America's economic security intact. Prioritize our spending to what WE NEED to spend it on: Interest, SS, and the Military.

Goodbye, debt ceiling debate.