It's High Noon For Debt-Ceiling Talks

The one thing everyone agrees on in the ongoing negotiations to raise the nation's debt ceiling is that NOT coming up with an agreement that could be drafted and passed by the full Congress by Aug. 2 would be really, really bad.

Well, it's crunch time, and talks between President Obama and Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, were almost completely broken down as of midnight Saturday.

So what could happen? Interest rates could spike, causing your variable-rate mortgage or credit-card rate to go up. The U.S. government's credit rating could be downgraded, throwing financial markets around the world into disarray and reducing confidence in our country's ability to pay back its debts.

For up-to-the-minute coverage updates and liveblogs on the oft-changing saga, click here to go to the Huffington Post.

But what do you think? Are you sick of politicians holding the country's well-being hostage while they practice political brinksmanship? Are you happy that the Republicans are holding out for more spending cuts? Do you agree with Obama that Republicans are being obstructionist?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below!