I thought the speech was pretty good, though like pundit Melissa Harris-Perry, I at first thought that Obama was giving us the Republican plan first. Which goes to show you how far to the right the Democrats have moved in this fight. The President did a good job of explaining the situation to a nation that doesn't always pay attention to such things. But I think the main point--the fact that the debt ceiling can be raised right this second with a one-sentence bill--could have been clearer. All the tax cuts, spending cuts, possible revenue enhancements, slashing Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. . .all the posturing, all of the "deals". . .have nothing to do with raising the debt ceiling. It's a manufactured, phony crisis that is becoming a real one.