Last night, as I watched Obama and Boehner address the nation about their inability to reach a compromise about the debt ceiling, Steve wandered into the room and calmly stated that he plans on cashing out of the stock market on Wednesday. My husband, who is always a glass half empty sort of guy, is ready to retire to a family compound in Montana with a carload of beans and guns. I think they're going to have to come up with some sort of compromise in the next eight days, but they are going to wait for the clock to run out until the last minute. 

The New York Times' chart comparing spending during the Bush and Obama administration was flying around on Twitter last night. It's a nice one. 

  

A stand-off between Republicans and Democrats is nothing new, but what's interesting/disturbing about this fight is the influence of the Tea Party on the Republican Party. I think lots of us have been waiting for the emptiness of the Tea Party Republicans to become obvious and for politics to return to normal. It hasn't happened yet. 

It's forcing even optimists like myself to consider the outcome of doomsday events. It is beans and gun time? 

Reactions from the RSS feed: 

John Quiggan, Crooked Timber "One thing the Tea Party has shown is that, in the current dire state of the US, there are few penalties for abandoning moderation. What the US needs at this point is someone willing to advocate a return to the economic institutions that made America great – 90 per cent top marginal tax rates, strong trade unions, weak banks and imprisonment for malefactors of great wealth."

Andrew Ross Sorkin, Deal Book "While the sky indeed may fall if the sides cannot compromise, the fact that the market has been calm has served only to deepen the resistance to a deal. People who perhaps should be worried don’t seem to be, and worse, appear to have stopped listening to the warnings."

Megan McArdle "These guys are out of ammunition.  They don't even have any good arguments left to fire at each other.  Which I think means we're hosed."

Dan Drezner "After last night's stunningly useless set of speeches, I'd put the odds of the U.S. not raising the debt ceiling by August 2nd at 1 in 2."

Nate Silver "To get something that is mutually agreeable to at least some members of Republican Study Committee and the Congressional Progressive Caucus is going to be extremely difficult."