IT'S TIME FOR US TO SPEAK UP OR FADE INTO HISTORY

I wrote the short letter below to my Congressman, Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer tonight asking him to vote against extending the debt ceiling. It's time that all of us that see what's coming do everything we can to get our reps to stop this government from self destructing. If we don't, and if it continues to borrow and borrow with no real way to ever pay it back, it will collapse. It will not only collapse but it will cease to exist in any recognizable form. So we either act like adults and take our medicine, RIGHT NOW, or we stick our heads in the sand for another year or maybe a little more, and we allow ourselves to be led to the slaughter.

My guess is that the debt ceiling will be raised and the clock marking the time left before America is destroyed will continue to click down to that final, brutal moment when the lights get turned off and the party stops. All because we aren't grown up enough to face the consequences of our actions.

"I'm writing to ask that you do not vote to extend the debt ceiling. I understand precisely what that means; we will default on our obligations and our economy will collapse. The thing is, that is going to happen regardless of whether we continue to pile on more debt or not. The only difference is that maybe, just maybe, it can be shoved down the road another year or two. But that only delays the inevitable and worsens the results. If we can hold our debt at current levels and begin to significantly slash spending, and yes, that includes ALL entitlements, even Social Security and Medicare, to a level that matches revenue, maybe we can come out of this, years from now, in one piece.

This will be extraordinarily difficult and painful but there's really no way around it now.

Please take a look at this article at Market Ticker (http://bit.ly/i15ubg). He does a good job of explaining the math.

Thanks for your time."