I am getting very tired of all the nonsense and blathering about how the Democrats & Republicans, or the President & Congress need to reach a "bipartisan" agreement to cut spending or raise the debt ceiling or whatever to prevent a default. Simply, if not tactfully, explained: that is bullshit!

The Republicans hold all of the important cards. If their leadership is not willing to stop playing the standard DC smoke & mirrors games, they need to be replaced by people with the courage to lead. Recent polls show that the majority of the people oppose increasing the debt-ceiling and want to see substantial and immediate spending cuts. Among Republicans and Independents, opposition to a debt-ceiling increase is overwhelming. Even among Democrats there is only very weak support for an increase.

There is absolutely no need for all the secret meetings and dirty deals. There is no need for the President or some cabal to negotiate a compromise agreement. The House Republicans are in a position to dictate the terms of any budget agreements. Article I Section 7 of the Constitution states clearly that "All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives". In case you weren't paying attention, that means that w/o the active cooperation of the Republican controlled House there is no way to raise revenue by increasing taxes, not even by sneaky methods like closing loopholes or changing formulas. And there is no way to raise revenue by borrowing money. If the House Republicans stand firm, no revenue bill could even reach the floor.

It doesn't matter what the President or the Senate does. They can't spend money w/o approval from the House. And they can't even think about borrowing or raising taxes. Existing law says the government must make payments on its debts. All that leaves to the Democrat controlled Senate & Administration to argue about is agreeing to real spending cuts, or making decisions about what non-mandatory spending to eliminate when the money runs out. One notable item in that category is federal employee paychecks.

But of course that will never happen. Everyone in power would rather assume that the public is ignorant of Constitutional checks & balances, so they can just maintain the status quo while making all sorts of dramatic statements about how their hands are tied by the other guys. And they are almost always right. But I say stop lying to us and fix the problem of overspending. Do it now.