Debt Ceiling Negotiations

"There are no tax increases of any kind, on the table."

Our country is in debt, and our yearly expenditures exceed the total tax revenue collected.  One party doesn't want to raise taxes, or the debt limit, and seeks to cut federal spending to eliminate the deficit, but has no plans on how to recover from the debt.  The other party is willing to cut some federal spending, in order to get a debt limit increase, and some new tax revenue, but also has no plans to solve the debt.  The curious aspect is that BOTH parties are willing to cut funding to both Social Security and Medicare, to attack the deficit.  I always thought one party was different than the other, in that it was supposed to stand up for protecting entitlement programs and responsible tax rates?

In order to merely pay our bills, liberals are willing to provide less health care and means on which to live to those who can least afford to provide for themselves.  The only conclusion one can draw from this, is that liberalism is taking on new meaning or the the Democratic party is now conservative.  How is it progressive to tell grandma that she gets a few less medical check-ups this year, and that she now will certainly be deciding between food and that prescription medication? Why aren't we standing up to say, "No, no, NO.  We ARE going to meet our obligations to our fellow citizens.  We ARE going to pay our bills on time, and we ARE going to raise taxes to do so."  Surely there's one party is willing to step forward and say that we should meet our financial obligations head-on in a fully responsible manner?

The latest offering by Senatorial Republicans is to simply give President Obama authority to raise the debt limit unilaterally.  This measure is intended to take their fingerprints off the matter, so they can go back to their voters and claim, "I didn't raise the debt limit, the President did!"  Which I find ironic, because according to the Constitution, the President could have declared the debt limit entirely unconstitutional, and just raised it all by himself.  When that notion was floated, Republicans bristled and claimed such efforts, a "silly notion".

In the end, neither party is willing to say that anyone is entitled to current entitlements, both are willing to cut from those who can least afford to sacrifice any more.  One expects Republicans to quash compassion, but why are liberals now wearing the same hat, touting the same garbage?

Could it be that both parties are controlled by big money, and that neither has the middle class in mind?