With the passage of the debt-ceiling deal, the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. One crisis had been averted. 

Liberals hated the deal, with Rep. Emanuel Cleaver famously calling the deal a "sugar-coated satan sandwich." Conservatives, especially the tea party movement, hated the deal too. 

Regardless of whether you are glad that the debt-ceiling was raised in the way that it was, the debate is over. And now we can move on. 

But there are big issues still on the table. 

Right after the debt-ceiling was lifted, the national debt shot up by $238 billion. The nation's current debt at $14.58 trillion is now more than our Gross Domestic Product, which for 2010 was $14.53 trillion. 

Obviously our debt stems from overspending, but part of the problem is that Democrats in the Senate refuse to pass a budget. 

The Democratic-controlled senate has not proposed a budget in 827 days - more than two years. The president has proposed a budget, which he is required by law to do, but that budget was so onerous that it did not get a single vote - not even from a Democrat - in the Senate.  

Our nation has not been operating on a budget for more than two years! Republicans in the House have offered up a plan to fix our nation's debt crisis. Maybe it's not enough, but it's definitely a start. What have the Democrats in the Senate done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

During the course of the debate over the debt-ceiling, Democrats used some extremely vitriolic language in reference to the Republicans. Members of the GOP in Washington have been accused of being terrorists and taking hostages, not by loud-mouthed pundits on TV or radio. No, Democratic representatives, senators, and even the Vice-President are the ones using this sort of language. 

What the Democrats are doing in the Senate is wrong and fiscally dangerous, but it's not terrorism, and it's not a hostage situation. We the people are calmly sitting by while Democrats in the Senate allow our nation to fall to pieces, while they sit by and twiddle their thumbs. 

All that the Democrats did in response to the Republican-led House passing a budget was to demagogue the Republicans. Democrats from the top down accused Republicans, who were making a legitimate attempt to reform entitlement programs and fix the fiscal morass that we're in, of hating old people.  

The vitriol reached such a low at one point that an ad actually featured a wheelchair-bound woman being thrown over a cliff, with the suggestion being that Republicans were doing the same thing. 

The Democrats ranted and raved about the Republicans' plan while not presenting a plan of their own. What utter hypocrisy! 

Where's the outrage? Why hasn't the public risen up against the do-nothing Democrats in the Senate, who don't have the political courage to even pass a budget, which is one of their fundamental duties? 

The Senate just recessed for a month long break from Washington. This means they're going back to their home states, leaving behind a lot of work to be done. 

It's up to us, the voters, to make a difference in their Washington, get-nothing-done mindsets. Call your senator, email him or her, show up at townhalls if possible. Let these people know that just because they think it's okay to go for 827 days without a budget, doesn't mean the rest of us agree. 

Don't just ask your senator to pass a budget. Demand that he work to pass a budget. 

If we let them, the Senate will probably carry on business as usual without passing a budget until the 2012 elections. This is simply unacceptable. 

Something has to change. And, to borrow from a popular politician, we are the change, so let's start doing something, since the Democrats in the Senate won't.

If we don't, there will be a high price to pay.