Analyst's note:  The American people are watching and know that we must NOT take on more debt if our nation is to "climb out" of this absolutely most significant problem.  Otherwise this "national meltdown" will only continue.

"Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has launched a petition that tells Congress "Don't Raise the Debt Ceiling," and veteran Sen. Jim DeMint, R, S.C., is suggesting freshman to Congress oppose efforts to raise the limit because they didn't contribute to the problem.

Even the Washington Post's Marc Thiessen writes in a commentary, "Let's be clear: Republicans have the upper hand in the coming fight over raising the federal debt limit. President Obama will push to raise the limit without giving Republicans the massive spending cuts they demand. But in the end he will cave."

[....] "Congress has used these tools before. In 1985, Congress waited nearly three months after the debt limit was reached before it authorized a permanent increase," he said. "In 1995, four and a half months passed, and in 2002, three months passed.

"A debt-limit standoff could go on for months, but the GOP should not give in. Obama will have a hard time making Republicans seem unreasonable, since he voted against raising the debt limit himself as a senator. … And … 71 percent of Americans oppose raising the debt limit."

Bachmann's plan is to fight."