And so it goes...

Just now I'm watching the US Senate debate the House bill which is intended to save this country from default. There's debate before a vote at noon. Some things in the bill are beginning to come out. The new debt limit will not get the country past the 2012 elections - unless an as yet to be appointed committee finds $ 1.2  trillion in cuts by November. If that figure is not reached, defense, and payments to medicare will immediately stop.  It gets better -  by September 30th, Congress will have to draw up the next year's budget. People (Republicans) are openly saying that this is the time to get rid of Medicare. And...  if that agreement on budget cuts by November doesn't happen, the cuts for Defense and Medicare will be voted on 2 days before Christmas.  Geez, do they really think that is creative? Hell, I did that one years ago, when Sony/Columbia/Tristar put me out of close to a decade's work for them the week before Christmas. This vote has been sold on the idea that the country runs out of money today, August 2nd. But, as Orin Hatch (R) noted, "Really?" He then said that he'd never been shown the figures by the Dept. of Money - and he's on the Finance Committee. Uh-huh.