The USA would probably never default. But the odds of "probably" are looking less and less in our favor. A year ago they were slim to none, however as we are quickly approaching the alleged day when the debt ceiling is going to be reached according to Treasury Secretary Gietner, the odds of default are getting downright frightening. The problem is politics of course. The disaster can be easily averted. But ideologies, egos, and presidential politics are forming the perfect storm that could just make the road to a debt ceiling increase vote impassable!
Time is skewed to shorten the window available for reconciliation because the ratings agencies and the markets are not apt to give us till the 9th hour, and it's anybodies guess when that freak attack will come.
Furthermore, even if the parties who would more likely be able to settle their broad and angry differences in a boxing ring than a conference room do somehow manage to see eye to eye in the spirit of compromise for the good of the country over the good of party (wow, that sounds like a dream world we are most definitely not living in) then there would still be the not so minor matter of passage by the full houses of congress. Imagine we get down to the wire and a faction of the Tea Party caucus manages to string together a senate filibuster that takes us over the edge!
The stand-off between President Obama and Rep. Cantor is beginning to feel like the financial markets version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. I'm wondering when we should start planning to run to our financial mutual destruction bomb shelters. Where is that again??
