Why is everyone surprised that companies are reporting profits? They have had 3 years to restructure, meaning layoffs and the opportunity to pay debt down. Financials firms were allowed to write-off bad debt which no one knows the extent. The issue is when the derivatives market is figured out the amount of money lost could be bigger than the actual deficit. If people with PhD’s do not understand how they work than it will take years to have a real grasp on the situation. The debt issue could be coming to a conclusion today as the House Speaker and the President work out a 3 trillion dollar deficit cut and raise the debt limit.