My Solution

I'm stepping up on my soapbox to deliver a rant, so if you're not in a rant-ish mood, it's probably best to stop reading now.  I'll be back to normal afterwards, I promise.

So.  Is anyone else just freakin' OVER IT with this budget/debt ceiling/spending fiasco being played out in Washington by our elected lawmakers?  It just amazes me that reasonable human beings can't come to some sort of a solution, but maybe I'm setting my expectations too high by thinking that the individuals involved are reasonable.  Don't know.  Be that as it may.  I've come up with a solution.  Not to the budget problem itself, mind you, but a solution that will light a fire under our elected lawmakers (who we are PAYING with our hard-earned tax dollars) and inspire them to sort this mess out.

Here's what needs to be done.

Take the elected lawmakers in question -- hereafter referred to as ELIQs -- to the airport on a day when the temperature will exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put them on an airplane.  Make sure that the air conditioning system on the airplane does not work and that the toilets are full.  Not just kind of full, but Tokyo to New York 15-hour flight with a loaded airplane full.  And getting kind of ripe.  The ELIQs will have no access to food, beverage, fans or fresh air.  Next, place the following passengers in close proximity to the ELIQs:
3 screaming infants
2 whining toddlers
1 teen-ager playing the most offensive rap music possible on his/her Ipod at a decible level that can be heard in Jersey
1 person of any gender or age talking loudly on his/her cell phone and whose conversation is liberally sprinkled with "like", "you know" and variations of the F bomb
4 individuals who have not bathed recently and who, like the toilets, are getting kind of ripe

Tell the ELIQs that they may not leave the airplane until they have hammered out a solution to the budget/debt ceiling/spending mess.  Shut the door and lock it.

I figure 30 minutes, maybe 45.

Okay.  Rant over.