JimJoe: Do I believe there's a debt crisis? You're damn right I do. Do I know about the dollar index? Let me put it this way - I keep DAILY tabs on the value of the dollar against the Canadian dollar, the British Pound Sterling and the Euro. I can tell you that the Euro was at $1.63 when my daughter was in Europe, $1.33 when I was there last year and was at $1.25 earlier this year but had hovered recently at $1.40 then popped to $1.44 because the Europeans decided to hike their interest rates a quarter of a percent.

But when you get what you want, as far as dollars, in the stopgap measure and THEN hold everything up over social policy? Well the "it's all about the deficit" rhetoric is proven to be just that. Rhetoric.

When Bill Maher's famous (to some) picture of the federal budget dinner plate still has the fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and mac & cheese (Medicare, Social Security & Defense) UNTOUCHED. Then it's about rhetoric.

We could take a good home-run swing at the deficit by doing the following:

- Get out of Aghanistan (since Karzai took it upon himself to publicize Terry Jones' idiocy), Iraq (8 years is enough), Germany (I think Hitler's dead and the Soviet Union doesn't exist) and Japan (I hear we won that war). Perhaps leave our troops in Korea until something sane happens to the DPRK (North Korea). This'll cut some of the fried chicken off the plate. Maybe, while we're at it, cancel the backup F-35 engine that the Air Force says it doesn't want bu legislooters keep funding - there's a couple BILLION right there.

- Reinstate the tax brackets the way they were under Clinton. You know, when times were good.

- Find out why the same ER visit that cost my insurance company over $2500 iin the US cost $580 CDN (under $500 US at the time) in Montreal. It's not like they have a 3rd-world medical system over there. Oh - and while we're at it, how come THEIR prescription drugs are so much cheaper? (Hint: I know some of those answers). This might reduce the mashed potatoes.

- Eliminate the cap on FICA and re-examine the COLA formulas along with disability payments for Social Security. The mac & cheese gets attention.

Arguing over NPR and Planned Parenthood is RIDICULOUS in light of all the bigger elephants being ignored.

Maybe we should also be billing the host countries for the protection we provide them if we still have troops in that country. ...just a thought.