This morning I read the headline “Boehner Says Only Taxes Off the Table in Debt Reduction Talks” and was once again outraged. The continuous Republican posturing about taxes is really about their recklessness a decade ago. In the Clinton years, when the deficit was an issue, tight federal spending and a boom economy created budget surpluses. The Republicans then immediately “forgot” that the surplus money was to be used to pay down debt and save for when the baby-boomers retired. So what did they do? They enacted sweeping tax cuts that primarily benefited the wealthiest in our country. These policies continued to shift wealth to the top. Then the Bush Administration entered the US into two wars without doing anything to pay for them. It is these actions that have principally created the mess we are in today. The fact that the Speaker Boehner wants to protect the wealth of his campaign contributors is understandably loyal to them, but disloyal to the country. It makes me wonder if the debt issue is really such a problem or only a political tempest in a tea cup. From my perspective it is a problem that needs to be addressed responsibly. This means that revenue (taxes) and spending need to be on the table. It is irresponsible and unpatriotic to do otherwise.