Raising the debt ceiling...

[Cracker]

"It is unlikely that raising taxes alone will solve the massive debt and budget shortfalls. A study conducted at the Tax Policy Center found that Washington would have to raise taxes by almost 40 percent to reduce – not eliminate, just reduce – the deficit to 3 percent of our GDP, the 2015 goal the Obama administration set in its 2011 budget. That tax boost would mean the lowest income tax rate would jump from 10 to nearly 14 percent, and the top rate from 35 to 48 percent. What if we raised taxes only on families with couples making more than $250,000 a year and on individuals making more than $200,000? The top two income tax rates would have to more than double, with the top rate hitting almost 77 percent, to get the deficit down to 3 percent of GDP. Such dramatic tax increases are politically untenable and still wouldn’t come close to eliminating the deficit. "

We have to cut spending.