Southland Mayors Want a Debt Ceiling Deal. Do You?

A group of 42 Illinois mayors, including Chicago's Rahm Emanuel, Tinley Park's Ed Zabrocki, Orland Park's Dan McLaughlin and Palos Hills' Gerald Bennett, want Washington to come to a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

In a group letter, the mayors called on Illinois' Congressional delegation and President Obama to come together on a deal. They said the U.S. defaulting on its debts, as it will do Aug. 2 if the debt ceiling isn't raised, would cause "grave damage" to Illinois cities.

Congress has raised the debt ceiling 10 times over the last decade, according to the National Journal.

In part, the mayors' letter reads:

Our businesses depend on us to provide infrastructure to allow them to move their goods and services. However, we cannot provide all of these on our own; we rely on federal programs such as the Community Development Block Grant, Community Oriented Policing Programs, and Federal Transportation subsidies to help provide these much needed services. Our seniors rely on Social Security to make ends meet. As we listen to the discussion in Washington surrounding the debt ceiling crisis, we fear that all of this is in jeopardy.

The letter can be read in full at Lynn Sweet's blog at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Confused about the debt ceiling debate? Read "The Debt Ceiling, Explained" on the NPR Planet Money blog.

To get more in depth on the debt ceiling, watch "The Debt Ceiling Debacle" video series at Newsbound.com.