There are times when you just want to shake Congress by the lapels and say, "Grow up."

The United States is facing a default on its debts unless President Barack Obama and his Democratic backers can persuade mostly Republican members of Congress to raise the debt limit, as has been done many times in years and decades past.

We — all of us — are living in a troubled economy, with stifling unemployment, runaway mortgage foreclosures and a litany of other financial ills. But none of that seems to matter to the partisan factions on Capitol Hill, where toxic politics has overcome the fundamentals of good government.

Just Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned of financial "calamity" if the U.S. can't pay its bills. And President Obama has said seniors may not get their Social Security paychecks if the ceiling isn't raised by Aug. 2.

This squabbling has been going on for weeks, months, as conservative Republicans, swayed by tea party principles, have dug in to obstruct any serious contemplation of how the break the impasse.

Here in Utah, the only Republican in the congressional delegation to refuse to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge is Rob Bishop.

That pledge is an instrument developed by neoconservative Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. Signers pledge to oppose "any and all efforts to raise the nominal income tax for individuals and/or businesses" and to oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits unless matched dollar-for-dollar by further reducing tax rates.

Which is all well and good in a nation much less financially troubled than this one. Negotiations between Congress and the White House are little but fits and starts. But on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had warned his colleagues that failure to raise the debt limit could ensure Obama's re-election next year.

A horrifying thought, I'm sure, to stout-hearted tea party enthusiasts nationally and here in Utah.

But it was Obama, calm as ever, who earlier this week responded to Republicans who consider debt reduction and taming deficits a moral imperative.

"Let's go," he said, toward fiscal balance, shared sacrifice and the preservation of Medicare, Medicaid and Society Security, which pretty much all of us will need at some time in our lives.

That goes to the "starve the beast" attitude toward so-called "social spending." In Utah, that's tended to mean public education. Nationally, it's about entitlements to which every tax-paying American contributes.

It all comes down to this: If we don't take care of our children, they can't grow up to be one of those contributing Americans. If we don't take care of the elderly and needy, we'll lose our stature as a nation that, while imperfectly, takes care of its own.

Yes, we need to create jobs, and as every businesswoman knows, that takes making enough money to do so. We must have an educated workforce proficient in a variety of occupations. We need stable interest rates on everything from our cars to our credit cards. And we need to support our military troops worldwide.

What we don't need is a bifurcated body politic that uses vilification and disinformation to reach its goals.

The United States, with its standing in the global community, needs flexibility to meet its duty to protect not only Americans, but as many other people as possible.

Solutions are always hard to find. One would be, though, for every member of Congress and the administration to step back into the conversation. It's for the good of the people, and it's called governing.

Peg McEntee is a news columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com or facebook.com/pegmcentee.