Yuck

Now that, apparently, an agreement has been reached to raise the debt ceiling, all I can really say is this: part of me is relieved, sort of, that my weekly unemployment check is (presumably) safe for now (and the unemployment, social security, federal payroll, and other payments that millions of Americans depend on); but mostly I just feel sort of sick about the whole thing. I have always believed that government has the responsibility to provide a safety net for the disadvantaged--that this, in fact, is one of the primary reasons that we have government. It seems that this principle is quickly eroding and soon will be a thing of the past. I hope I'm wrong.