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Government spending hits the ceiling.

Since there's so much wheeling and dealing in politics I normally don't bother writing about it. The headlines today force me to mention a situation taking place in Washington. It seems our government has hit the proverbial debt ceiling. In simple terms, the U.S. is broke, can you believe that?

The rhetoric flowing between President Obama and Republicans is truly bizarre. The part that caused me to leap to my computer was the threat to stop Social Security and Military pay checks in August. At first I thought I heard wrong but after speaking to fellow retirees, I was convinced. It seems President Obama announced this before walking out of a meeting. Can you imagine the chaos if this were to occur. In my case the rent, car, insurance, phone, electric etc. would not be paid since I rely on that Social Security check every month. The news of this occurring has set off a chain reaction of panicked retirees. A lot of people are under the impression retired people have at least half-a-million bucks tucked away. That belief may apply to a small percent of the population but reality is the majority will suffer if this happens. I also fear some may do something drastic once the month of August nears without some positive news from our government.

The only one cheering will be the banks. They'll have a field day adding charges due to bouncing checks. Unpaid accounts will also profit from late fees. So what's the answer? As the song says, "The answer my friend is blowing in the wind." When will the answer enter some politician's ears is anyone's guess.

The ironic kick in the pants of all this is that soon after listening to more news reports on the debt problem, another report details how the U.S. is holding 800 million dollars scheduled for Pakistan and get this, the sum reflects only a part of several payments to this alien country. After hearing this, I did a little research and lo and behold learned our government makes it a practice of sending millions to countries all over the world, some of which hate our guts. I was shocked. The government has billions to give away and is now threatening its very own citizens with poverty. What gives? Am I missing something?

Going back to the bickering in question, who's kidding who? From where I sit, I see a bunch of politicians attempting to profit from a situation due to approaching elections. Deep down I hope somebody comes to his or her senses before August arrives.