I think I see the issue in the debt ceiling talks:

on the one hand, we have the socialists. Their issue is that we aren't spending enough, and to cut any programs or agencies would be bad because many people are dependent on the money put into the economy by the government. The issue is that the government must give money to the "people", be they "productive" or not. Those who are "disadvantaged" still need their handouts. Most of the other government employees need to have a government job because otherwise their standard of living would decrease. Most (not all) government workers couldn't hack it in a real, private sector, productive, results oriented type of work environment. In other words, depend on the government....

And, BTW, your hard earned dollars really belong to the government and "professional politicians". We don't have a spending issue, we have a lack of proper tax levels.

On the other hand, we have the conservatives: We are spending too much. We don't really need this many government programs, most of which are of dubious value anyway. They do keep people employed, but at a great cost per worker. We need to let people in the private sector keep more of their money. Those who live off of the largesse of the productive portion of our citizens should be happy with what they get, and if they don't like it, should get their own source of income...
And, BTW, your hard earned dollars are yours, and you shouldn't have to give so many to the government to spend wastefully The issue isn't a lack of taxes, but rather a lack of restraint when spending other peoples money.They only support raising the debt limit when it is for military or infrastructure spending under a Republican president..

Have I got it right?