"I'm just disgusted with those on both sides of the aisle, honestly."

Matt Barber is Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel and also serves as Associate Dean with Liberty University School of Law. On today's Brain Trust segment, Barber talked about the debt ceiling.


Is John Boehner's bill going to pass the house?

If it does pass, it will be by a razor thin margin.

The obstructionists in the senate are saying it will be dead on arrival anyway.

This bill that Boehner is pushing here is woefully insufficient.

You keep hearing president Obama, Harry Reid, and other saying that we need a balanced approach.

You don't have a balanced approach when you're in a nosedive. You have to yank back as hard as you can.

I'm just disgusted with those on both sides of the aisle, honestly.

Why are so many conservatives supporting the plan?

I think they're looking at this in terms of political considerations.

But this plan just doesn't do enough.

I guess it's a tourniquet to stop the immediate bleeding here. But something big needs to be done.

I think there are political calculations at play here.

Republicans, particularly establishment Republicans, are scared to death that they are going to get strapped with the blame.

There are a lot of scare tactics going on here as well.

This plan, apparently, even if it gets through the Republican house, it's sounding like Obama and liberals in the senate are going to make sure it doesn't see the light of day.

What happens after the Senate punts Boehner's plan?

If Democrats in the Senate kill this plan, then there's no one to blame but them for the debt ceiling not being raised.

This plan only carries us down the road about six months. I think there may be a little bit of bluffing on the part of Harry Reid and President Obama.

Erick Erickson said that Reid will take Boehner's plan and amend it, adding tax increases to the bill, then send it back to the House. What do you think about that scenario?

That may be what Harry Reid plans to do.

I think Boehner has been clear that absolutely, unequivocally there will be no tax increases included.

People are also forgetting the fact that just because the debt ceiling is raised, does not mean our credit rating will necessarily be downgraded.

I expected that our top-notch credit rating might be downgraded no matter what we do.

I'm not sure what we can get out of this in terms of a lower credit rating no matter what we do.

Rick Perry is polling well. Give us your perspective.

I've got a few concerns about what Rick Perry said the other day about gay marriage.

I'm hoping he'll still be joining the big prayer rally in Houston.

It remains to be seen. I think he's got a pretty solid record.