President Obama's Speech on the Debt Ceiling

Ok, after listening to the President's speech and Boehner's speeches I have a few thoughts.

The President is correct that both sides share in the blame of this problem AND he is also correct in piling a little more blame on the Republicans. The President throughout this whole thing has bent over backwards to try and get a deal done, and has even said he was willing to touch entitlement programs (mainly Social Security and Medicare). What more do the Republicans want him to do? Yes I admit that you do have to cut some spending (for example the F-22 which is grounded indefinitely, the F-35 which we really don't need, tax cuts that haven't resulted in job growth, etc), BUT that can't be your ONLY solution. At some point there has to be a revenue increase (and I'm sorry simply growing the economy isn't enough).

Look at it from a business perspective. Say Mr Deeds has 2 stores but he is running in the red. The Republican solution to his problem would be to simply cut his staff in half, keep giving himself a bonus, not take on ANY debt even if that debt is required to expand his business (aka balanced budget amendment), and leave prices unchanged. This banks on the idea that you can do more with less and that your customer service won't suffer. But if your customer service DOES decline (which is extremely likely) you are in an even worse situation than before, because you are still losing money but now you are also losing your loyal customers. How can you make money in that scenario? Whereas what the President would tell Mr Deeds is to cut about 1/4 of his staff, stop giving himself a bonus, AND raise his prices, say 5 cents. Customers, from what I have seen (and airlines are a good example) are far more willing to accept an increase in price, although grudgingly, than they are willing to accept a steep decline in the quality of customer service. With this scenario you may take a slight hit in customer service but people would still frequent his business, especially if what he offers is in demand. It also allows him to take on some debt (once his business starts to turn a profit) to expand his business.

Now you tell me which of those is the better solution long term