I'm tired, Buck. Very tired.
The "debt ceiling" has been a joke for years. They'll raise it. The Democrats want business as usual, big business and the stock market want business as usual, the government bureaucracy wants business as usual, everyone wants business as usual. Kick the can down the road one more time.

There will be no spending cuts. Democrats have never delivered on any past promises to cut spending with the sole exception of defense. There won't be any major tax increases or entitlement reforms. The Democrats had two years of solid power to do these things, and they kicked that can down the road, too. Remember the last time Republicans tried even the smallest real entitlement reform?

Our system has evolved a political animal that cannot think long term. Long term means political death. What do I have right now? What do I want right now? Five years down the road is an eternity. In the long run, we're all dead. Ryan was thinking in the long run, and got crucified for it. Obama is thinking of nothing past 2012, and will probably survive. Obama's stupid phrasing aside, nobody really wants to eat their peas.

So, we end up with Greece, Ireland, Italy, and all the rest. Our streets will be burning, led by those who believe they have a right to live off others, but unlike Greece there will be nobody left on the planet to bail us out.