CHICAGO – It's back to school time, again. It's a shame we can't send Congress back to the classroom, too, to re-take civics class, American history and, generally speaking, how to get along with their classmates. Because the toxic cloud of discourse has grown so poisonous it's actually infecting the economy and markets well beyond our borders.

The debt ceiling deal – if you can call it that since it does next to nothing to address the long-term problem – is a real world example of too little, too late. While the deal buoyed the markets the next day, the international free fall that followed showed us all what business thinks of the patchwork solution and the bitter battle our lawmakers fought to get there.

It's funny. It used to be that our elected officials – from the president all the way down to the smallest state rep – were supposed to represent the best of us. Now, watching them posture for elections instead of working for their constituents, it's clear they're more like the worst of us.