Despite all of the confusion, there is actually NO reason why reducing the national debt should be tied to the urgent looming deadline for paying the nation's current bills! The bills which are due need to be paid! This is the necessary thing to do, and if it is not done, our country will reap dire financial consequences of acting irresponsibly--which will ironically make it much HARDER to reduce the debt!  We can see that deficit negotiations will take time for all parties to devise and agree upon sound policy. And the current rush to meet an artificial deadline means that WE THE PEOPLE have had no chance to review proposals and to let our representatives know what WE think about them! OUR VOICES MATTER!  We therefore now call upon the Congress and the President to put aside any pledges they have made regarding the debt ceiling, pledges made before the deadline was so imminent. They must immediately raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached, until December 1, 2012. This date will reduce domestic and global concerns of financiers, such as those who determine the interest rates we pay on our debt, that we could face this crisis again and be even less able to cope with it during campaigns for the November 2012 elections. We will insist that serious negotiations on deficit reduction continue. But at the same time, in a nonpartisan manner, we require our government  to take the action needed to reassure the world that in an emergency we Americans can still act swiftly, and act together.