My take on what happened in Washington:
If most of us saw one of our neighbors do what just happened in Washington, we would think they were insane - An average family of 5 (2 working parents and three teen/early teen kids). They have all of the "normal" luxuries - they drive decent cars, have smartphones, premium cable channels, go out to eat regularly and go to the movies and take vacations every year. What we find out later is that they have been doing with with both parents working two jobs, debt out their ears - two mortgages, notes on both cars, and credit cards maxed out. One day the parents figure out that they are out of money to keep up the lifestyle. They start fighting over the household budget - why does she have to get her nails done every couple weeks? Why is the weekly golf outing so important 
to him? Why do they eat out three nights a week? Do the kids REALLY need smartphones? The parents both refuse to compromise on ANY household budget concessions, so the cable gets cut off by the cable company because the bill isn't paid - same for the smart phones. Dinners out end, golfing gets cut off and nails don't get done at the salon. Finally, the day before the bank is going to file foreclosure, Dad comes home with a shiny new credit card in his hand. "I've solved ALL of our problems!" he declares. "We can now borrow another $10,000!!!" The whole family rejoices and the cable is turned back on, Mom goes to get her nails done and Dad goes golfing. The kids start texting their friends on their re-activated smartphones about how wonderful it is to have everything back to normal. Flash forward six months to a year later - the family is RIGHT back where they were.
We don't need this crappy "deal" that was worked out in Washington! We NEED a balanced budget, a government that realizes they have to CUT spending to fix the country's problems, and an American public that wakes up and realizes that all of these fancy promises and and subsidies and handouts from the government are simply mortgaging our future.No, I for one will NOT celebrate the deal in Washington or the government re-opening. I think it is a sham and a disgrace to those who founded this country.
