A late deal struck by House and Senate leaders to raise the debt ceiling — with spending cuts that won’t balance the budget anytime soon, if ever — is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in Washington. We needed a solution, but instead just got another cockamamie deal that won’t stop the spending.

Word has it Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) hasn’t made her mind up or taken an official position on the dirty debt deal, but I’m also hearing that a vote may be taken on the plan at any time. I’m also hearing Speaker Boehner doesn’t have the votes to pass this dog. There is still time for YOU to make a difference–contact your representative.

The “modern” idea of church, or ecclesiology, it seems is that the church exists as a venue to “attract” the lost through dynamic programs, performances and events—the more dynamic the better. What one pastor friend of mine referred to as “theo-tainment.” The problem with emphasizing this approach exclusively is that a disproportionate amount of the church’s time and resources go into these efforts at the expense of discipleship and training the already saved. The result is the proverbial church that “is a mile wide and inch deep.”

Let’s peek in on the First Family as they watch some late night TV.

Watching Republicans talk about the latest “deal” to supposedly deal with the debt and deficit, I feel like I’m watching people on another planet. They’re talking about something that has no relevance here on this planet–certainly not in the United States. Charles Krauthammer (whom I normally like and deeply respect) and Rep. Kristi Noem (R-SD) are calling $1 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years a “victory” and a “victory for the Tea Party.

This is a speech given by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of those “racists” elected by the “racist” Tea Party patriots last year. He explains the insanity of the out-of-control spending spree our nation has been on for a number of years, and how we have ignored our massive and still-growing debt for years. He also schools the haughty Senator John Kerry (D-MA), who, you might know, served in Vietnam.

The grassroots Tea Party that swept the 2010 elections and made Boehner Speaker clearly want an end to an ever-increasing debt. Yet every plan of the perpetually-re-elected Republicans merely slows the growth of the debt they do not reduce the debt. Since neither party seems willing to drain the swamp, it is time to flood the swamp with calls, letters, and visits. Demand that our representatives represent us and not themselves or their fellow insiders. Stop the deficits! Pay down the debt! And don’t make a Corrupt Bargain that will lead us and our posterity further down the road to serfdom.

Our country’s debt and deficit is difficult to understand in the abstract. Translating it to the numbers on each taxpayer’s credit card can help us see how our country’s spendthrift ways have debilitated economic productivity. We have to cancel some of our subscriptions to costly and inefficient government entitlement programs. The sooner we rein in spending, the sooner we can free the economy from the burden of excessive government.

The latest report says the state is seeing some growth in its sales tax revenue. At the same time there is a group in South Dakota who want to raise the sales tax by one cent and plan to put the idea as a ballot measure in the 2012 November election. The revenue from that one penny would go just for public schools and health care providers. With increased sales tax revenue is that extra penny tax needed?

Fixing a problem among the Veterans Administration, the Medicare system, and an insurance company to make sure that the VA, Medicare, and the Medicare supplement insurance policy all pay the correct amount on a medical bill is an ordeal. There is a much easier way: Ask a Congressman or Senator to help. Members of Congress and the U.S. Senate can get the cooperation of the VA and Medicare systems to correct a medical billing error. They have the power to fix these problems, and if there is systemic failure, they need to know about it.