I tried to call my Congressman, Timothy V. Johnson, IL-15 (R) to share my thoughts on the debt ceiling non-crisis. Mailbox full! I take that as an encouraging sign, though I suppose it could be full of people pleading with him to allow a default, or to insist that we play this game again in a few months.
Anyway, I had to send an e-mail through his web site, for now. I'll try again tomorrow.
For what it's worth, here is my message, written in my talking-to-Republicans-I-assume-are-not-crazy voice.
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I implore Congressman Johnson to support either a clean debt ceiling bill or one that has a balance between spending cuts and revenue increases. We got into this mess with both spending mistakes and tax policy mistakes, and correcting both is the way out.
Also, supporting a bill that forces us to engage in this time-consuming pissing match again in a few months would reflect poorly on you. You all have better things to do.
Big decisions about spending and taxes should be decided by elections. The last election gave us a divided government, so kicking the problem down the road is exactly what we should do if we can't find a mutually acceptable compromise. If you're right that the GOP approach of spending cuts only and a balanced budget amendment is what America wants, you'll own the presidency and both houses of Congress by the end of next year. Until then, let's avoid destroying the economy.