The national media have been all-too-happy to perpetrate a hoax in the ongoing debt ceiling dilemma -- and have been avoiding the most important truth.

First, the hoax: that if the debt ceiling isn't raised, Social Security checks may not go out and our military and veterans may not get paid and we'll default on our debt, which could cause a global depression.

We will concede that defaulting on the debt would be a bad thing. But that's where the truth-telling ends in many media reports.

The truth is, defaulting on our debt obligations -- as well as not paying Social Security recipients or the military -- is a matter for the Obama administration to sort out. The president and his men could very well choose not to issue those checks, but it would be their choice. The truth is, there will be money for those things even if the debt ceiling isn't raised.

It's just that the government will have to prioritize. It would be bad, and we don't recommend it. But failure to raise the debt ceiling does not equal default. Those who are saying that are misleading you.

As for the truth that they're not telling you, it's this:

The most recent Republican plan to cut spending called for trimming only about $1.2 trillion over 10 years, but this year's deficit alone -- the amount the government is spending beyond what it takes in -- is $1.65 trillion.

In other words, the big brouhaha in Washington is over whether we can cut less in 10 years than we overspend in one!

How pathetic is that? We've got our nation's capital in paralysis because our leaders can't even muster the courage to cut over 10 years an amount that is less than what they overspend in one year.

[link to chronicle.augusta.com]