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I certainly don't want our nation to go into default, but at the same time, I'm very concerned about our ongoing debt problem.

I do not want America to default on its debt.

After everyone has had a chance to bluster, posture, and pontificate, we are left with one basic question: under any foreseeable circumstance, would it be in our national interest to default on our debt? The answer is unequivocally no.

Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy. Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we've got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon.

If we reach the debt ceiling, we don't have to default. Getting to that point just won't allow us to reach new debt.

A default on our debts as a result of not meeting our obligations would be a disaster for the stock market, and Americans would see their retirement funds shrivel up.

The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.

You know, we've got to be responsible about our debt. We don't want the United States to ever be a dead beat, and not be able to pay its bills, either to our soldiers who are fighting or to Social Security recipients.

I think at the end of the day we have to raise the debt ceiling, because America pays its bills.

This accumulated debt at all levels of our society poses an immediate existential threat to America. Now unlike the manufactured crises of global warming and healthcare, this is a true crisis. This crisis threatens the very sovereignty of our country.