Something that Senator Patrick Leahy said in this speech I found very intriguing. He said that President Clinton's budget from 2000, the last year that we had a balanced budget, passed the Senate without a single Republican vote. I found that interesting. Bill Clinton had just turned in the third balanced budget in a row. We were paying down the deficit, which is what these Republicans swear they want. Yet, Republicans opposed a balanced budget 10 years ago. Why? Could it be that they're really not interested in a balanced budget at all? Could it be that they're interested in dismantling Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid much more than they are interested in a balanced budget?

I don't think that anyone should be surprised that there was no progress over the weekend. Representative John Boehner has decided to put together his own proposal. I think that it is clear no matter what he puts together it will not pass the Senate. On the other hand, Senator Harry Reid is putting together his own proposal. I don't think that his proposal passed the House. I look for President Obama sometime in the middle of the week to pull out the 14th amendment and order the treasury secretary to raise the debt ceiling. Look for Republicans to absolutely and completely melt down when that happens.