"Vested interests create “checks and balances” primarily to make political systems non-responsive to demands for social reform.".

It is thanks to checks and balances that we don't currently have a dictator Trump running this country. Anyone who thinks checks and balances are a bad idea need only take a cursory glance at the world over the past few years to realize we would be far worse off without them. From Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil to Boris Johnson in the UK, would be autocrats were thwarted in their quest to remain in office by these same checks and balances.

"The" Church? Surely it should be "a" church unless we've time travelled back to the middle ages.

Regardless.. who cares what these irrelevant throwbacks to an age of superstition think?

Hopefully the whole debacle will focus people's minds on the real problem. The US government is spending more than it is taking in, and that's a problem with only 2 possible solutions (continuing to raise the debt ceiling doesn't count as a solution). We must reduce spending or increase revenue by raising taxes. There is nothing else to discuss.. kicking the can down the road only hurts us more in the long run.

Spending money on worthwhile endeavors is a good thing, but you have to have the money to spend in the first place. If you don't and you just kick the can down the road it puts a much heavier burden on future generations. We need to get serious about raising taxes on those who do not pay their fair share.