The following op-ed was written by the Green-Rainbow Party Co-chairs,  John Andrews and Jill Stein.

The shameful debt ceiling flap that has embroiled Washington in recent weeks has left the American people wondering if they can trust any of their current political leaders to do the right thing. The immediate cause of this manufactured crisis lies with the Republicans holding the American economy hostage to a threatened default if their anti-government demands were not met.  President Obama is fully justified in rejecting those proposals which would do enormous harm to essential functions of government.