The word for the next few days is "brinkmanship."

[Raven]

or, the alternative spelling "brinksmanship." Defined as "the policy of pursuing a hazardous course of action to the brink of catastrophe."

The really bad news this morning is that Boehner got his math wrong. Action by the House is now pushed to Thursday, maybe Friday. That will leave one or two working days to figure this mess out not counting the weekend. I have thought until now that the financial industry was pretty confident that a deal on the debt limit would be achieved because they have been told so by Boehner's crowd and the WH. Now,we're looking at a buffoon who can't add and can't control his crowd. We're looking at a bunch of wingnuts who openly admit that they would be thrilled with a default and who may have the votes to make that happen. We're looking at a WH which now is in the role of an onlooker. The inmates are now in control of the institution.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I'll cut Boehner some slack. His congressional aides, recently out of college,

likely put together the math. Where he went wrong was not checking their proposal for errors before he showed it to Rush Limbaugh other representatives.

[Raven]

2. God! The thought of the country's financial future being in the hands

of a few kids is chilling! Well, on second thought, I'm not sure there any adults in this crowd.

[yourout]

3. I prefer to call it "Suicide Planning"

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Boehner is playing chicken with Reid

Each wants his bill to be the last possible thing to vote on before the deadline. That's the game. Of course it was delayed.

The new GOP talking point, by the way, is that the deadline itself is not real (but rather manufactured by Geithner, who is in the Admin and therefore can't be trusted), and that the federal government will still have money to pay its debts and obligations. They're literally out in la-la land on this. The Teabaggers are saying that they don't believe the Secretary of the Treasury regarding the nation's accounts. What does one do in such a situation?

[Bragi]

9. It's actually too late, real damage has been done

At this point it's a matter of how much U.S bonds will be downgraded.

If there is an actual default, the impact on U.S ability to borrow will be catastrophic. If Washington now cobbles together a package that avoids immediate default, then there will still be a downgrade.

Truth is, the tea partiers, coupled with (sorry to say) an ineffectual White House, have already done great damage to U.S economic prospects, and some damage to the global economy.

[Bragi]

5. Whatever happens this week, US Treasury bonds will be downgraded

I think what we are now seeing can actually be described as a real "game-changer" for the U.S in terms of its economic future and its place in the world.

The idiocy around the debt ceiling is dramatically demonstrating to the world that the U.S political system is out of control, that its right-wing politicians are ignorant and reckless enough to even risk a global economic meltdown to score partisan points, and that its elected President, sadly, is ineffectual in stopping them.

So the unthinkable -- that the U.S would ever default on its treasury bonds -- is no longer at all unthinkable.

This being so, no matter what happens later this week, the bond markets are now going to demand a premium to loan money to the U.S so as to cover the increased risk arising from the now-undeniable breakdown of the U.S. political system.

This will have real effects on Americans in terms of higher interest rates, even more reduced government spending, the need for higher taxes, and greater unemployment.

For the rest of the world, the debt ceiling fiasco signals an urgent need to take whatever steps might be possible to shelter their economies as best possible as the U.S spirals downward.

[Raven]

6. I'm afraid you're right. We have lost our standing as a relatively sane

and stable country even if default is averted.

[Bragi]

8. I agree that is the serious long-term result

Based on anecdotal evidence I collect in my travels, I think over the last couple of decades many people in the world have gone from "respecting" the U.S, to "fearing" the U.S, to now actually feeling sorry for the U.S.

It is a sad story. Here we have a great people with a great history and spectacular human and natural resources, and their political system is so broken that they cannot address and resolve a single issue of any importance. Not a one!

This being so, it now falls to the rest of the world to take steps to reduce the risk to global prosperity arising from the broken U.S political system.

Downgrading U.S bonds is the start of this needed realignment.

[paparush]

7. The "new normal". America crashing into the reality of it's rightward shift, and the

real impact of NAFTA and off-shoring.

Was listening to a story on NPR about the "new normal". GDP growth at or below 2% will only add 700K jobs a year, which barely covers the new job seekers coming into the market.

Unemployment is going to stay high and incomes will stay low.

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/12/137708256/what-the-new-normal-means-for-americans