THE DEBT CEILING.

The battle for raising the debt ceiling came into the open once again, when President Barack Obama came out swinging and saying that the barriers were now set between more taxes on the rich and affluent, who could financially afford to go a little bit farther to help settle the matter, on one side; and the cuts that would lead to lowering the quality and standards of some social and entitlement programs, on the other.

Those programs were being thwarted or were having drastic demands made on them by those in disagreement with the government's position of protecting them, rather than defending tax increase for the well to do.

Though, he did not mention any programs as such, his eye was on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits, whose combined cost would drag the financial woes of the United States farther down the nearly macabre slump the nation already found itself.

He stressed emphatically that, if the bills due to be paid were not met, due to the reluctance of the opposition, the resultant scenario would be catastrophic. The financial world would be rocked to its core to make a bad situation even worse than anyone would be able to anticipate.

The Republican Party's opposition has been on the side of taxes, with corporations getting tax breaks in a sluggish economy instead of tax hikes; and individuals whose comparable incomes exceeded that of the ordinary person by tens and thousands of dollars several times over, to refrain from paying more taxes.

They insisted that without their commitment and support of even dismal financial conditions, their way of prodding the slow economic recovery along with their capital investments was a great help. That was far better to get the country's present economic status standing on an even keel, otherwise a complete financial disaster could occur.

Unemployment would rise even more, and interest rates would soar to heights where nobody could borrow anymore. Banks and businesses would be hit badly; with stifled loans becoming rampant, and businesses could not get in place the developments and expansions they needed to grow.

Stagnation would set in, bringing in its train inflation and high cost of living. It would be difficult all around for everyone; and fiscal impediments could be experienced by all citizens across the board. That, in a nutshell, sounded very strident.

So, where would the U.S. Government go from here? The bi-lateral discussions, which were headed by Vice President Joe Biden have collapsed, or there was no indication of their revival; and the defense, which the business world was putting up, with respect to more taxes being imposed on them, would stiffen their resolve on the side of the opposition of raising the debt ceiling.

If that should happen, the chance to get the economy moving again would remain burdensome for any of the innumerable problems to be resolved. A major drawback of the economy would tend to exist; and it would even get stronger, if the impasse was allowed to continue over time.

However, it has to be borne in mind that there was a deadline to meet; and that the president was perfectly right of the consequences of default, which would cast a more sinister shadow and thereby have a tremendously bad effect on the nation's financial problems. The situation might even cause a global economic destruction of extreme proportions.

Therefore, would it not be a good idea for all factions to decide to come together; put their differences aside, and be able to reach a conclusion or a compromise of some sorts that would stop the "financial rampage" being forecast by almost every well known economists in the country, and also by President Obama?

As far as raising the debt ceiling was concerned, both sides have ample reasons to stand firm on their convictions; yet, should there not be a common ground to be found, for the sake and future of the nation? Even the world at large was waiting to see something good happening.