Can’t we reach for the best instead of looking for the worst? That is exactly how we lost California, which for those of you who don’t remember had a Republican Speaker of the Assembly just 16 years ago. Just because you don’t agree with everything that the other person says does not mean they are trying to drag this country into the sewer. Is that what you believe of your friends, your spouse and your family when they don't agree with you?

Do those of you who continue to denigrate anyone who you don't agree with remember that it was Ronald Reagan who created the 11th Commandment, "thou shall not speak ill of other Republicans"? When you call members of our Party, RINOS, Socialists, or Kooks, do you remember that this Party once had Nelson Rockerfeller, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Earl Warren as standard bearers of this party and we passed meaningful legislation, controlled Congress, and didn’t spend all of our time talking about how we were going to stop the President and repeal everything that he did.

Nice..really nice. I really enjoy reading all the vindictive statements by people who seem to have totally forgotten what Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater truly stood for - honesty, integrity, and that "shining city on a hill" – a city that represents the very best we have to offer. They had a clear vision of a country that was true to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Do you?

Cute column Bruce, but it has absolutely no basis in reality. I have visited Occupy Wall Street In New York and found that the press' accounts of who is participating and what is going on is a total lie. So I began writing my own blog on Occupy Wall Street: http://occupywallstreet-truthandfiction.blogspot.com/.

Maureen, I know you mean well, but until you and others like you realize that you are living in a dream world we do not have a chance to solve our problems. All you have to do is look at the comments on this blog to see that the Republicans, Tea Partyers and those who just hate Obama and the Democrats are just as guilty as those you and I believe have better solutions to our problems. Calling the President of the United States a "clown in chief" or saying that he deliberately wants to destroy this country is not any different from what you accuse the liberals of doing. THERE IS NO CHANCE OF US WORKING TOGETHER TOWARD A SOLUTION IF WE DON"T SHOW EACH OTHER RESPECT.

I'm sorry. Is MSNBC the only station you listen to and the New York Times the only newspaper you read? Not only Fox, but CNN, CNBC and many of the noncable broadcast channels were trashing the Democrats and the President every single day. Just about every talk radio show spoke of nothing else. What I didn't see in the media were commentators discussing what is good about the various proposals - how we might take one part of this proposal and combine it with another part of that proposal. Can anyone tell me the details of any program or do we just hear the sound bites - Balanced Budget amendment - Cut, Cap, and Balance - No Tax Increase - Tax the Wealthy - Tax and Spend - Destroy Medicare, etc.

Finally were were warned that if the debt ceiling was not raised, the stock market would crash and the US government debt would be downgraded. Under incredible pressure a worthless debt ceiling bill was passed and signed yet debt was downgraded and the stock market is in the midst of the biggest drop since 2008. Can anyone explain to me why with that history we should believe anything that Washington tells us?

Just a reminder to everone: Bailout #1 was proposed by a Republican administration. Both we and the Congress were lied to by clever politicians who were more interested in protecting the financial institutions than in solving the problems. Much of the money has yet to be spent and virtually none of it was used to buy up the bad loans as was promised by the Secretary of the Treasury. Bailout #2 was proposed by a Democratic administration. We were told that if we did not pass the bill, unemployement would hit 10% or more. Congress did pass the bill and yes indeed, unenemployment exceeded 10%. (Am I missing something?)

There were several proposals that actually could have addressed some of the fundamental inbalance problems, but were rejected without legitimate debate by Democrats and Republicans alike. The US Constitution is not a place where economic policy should be etched in stone - situations do change. Tying the necessary passage of the debt ceiling to the huge and complex issue of fundamental reform may have good politics, but could only result in the worst of all possible outcomes. The Gang of 6 actually proposed a thoughtful and sweeping change in the way the US government operates. It deserves a thorough review, but not on an up or down vote with the debt ceiling vote on the line.

This country would be a lot better off if everone didn't feel it was their patriotic duty to trash the other side instead of trying to work together to reach a solution. This is what I do know: The American people lost again. Wall Street and the financial community are proving that. The plan that was enacted by Congress and signed by the President did not begin to address the fundamental problem of our country's deficits. None of the proposals from the Democrats, Republicans or the President actually did what they said they were going to do - cut spending in real terms. They were merely reductions in the rate of increase.