Ides of October 17th.

It's a done deal , but it's just a quick fix
to a problem .

The ides of October 17th loom *** . And so far we have stalemate.  At Press TIME , there has been no "agreement" to the debt ceiling  (MAYBE they agreed on something today. ). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scrambled late Monday to iron out the specifics of an emerging budget proposal after a string of prior plans fizzled. Reid appeared on the chamber floor Monday night to announce, "We've made tremendous progress -- we are not there yet -- but tremendous progress, and everyone just needs to be patient."McConnell added, "We've had a good day...I think it's safe to say we've made substantial progress and we look forward to making more progress in the near future."--- oh really . You like to believe that ? Nancy Pelosi came out and did a press conference , she looked and sounded as if she has the coffee jitters.Had to stop watching pelosi - she actually makes my stomach turn. The ( both Parties ) when interviewed the "claim" that they are making progress. In a strange turn of events some of the lawmakers in congress  are voicing increasing skepticism about dire warnings that failing to raise the debt ceiling would result in catastrophic default. "I would dispel the rumor that is going around that you hear on every newscast, that if we don't raise the debt ceiling, we will default on our debt," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., Monday on CBS This Morning. "We won't. We'll continue to pay our interest." We have had so much "fear-mongering" that Wall Street seems so out touch with the "reality" of defaulting the trading has never been so easier , and faster.With hours left for Congress to finalize and pass legislation before the United States' borrowing authority expires, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., formally unveiled a plan Wednesday that will fund the government through Jan. 15 and lift the debt limit through Feb. 7. So, what part of the "plan... that will fund the government through Jan. 15 and lift the debt limit through Feb. 7" (Reid's and McConnell's OWN PLAN) doesn't Harry understand to be extremely short term? What "long term?" What "foundation for economic expansion" when there remains so much uncertainty in the markets and throughout the entire economy? All these two bozos did was get the country through the Christmas buying season.---- if for short both plans don't solve long term solution  to the debt issue , they are just a quick fix . At that point, according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, the government will have only around $30 billion cash on hand to meet the country's commitments, plus whatever tax money comes in.This won't necessarily lead to default right away. But it does put the Treasury Department in a precarious situation. "This amount would be far short of net expenditures on certain days, which can be as high as $60 billion," Lew wrote in his letter to Congress.


NOTES AND COMMENTS:
***To keep spending, the government needs Congress to pass a spending law. Republicans have already blocked this, resulting in a partial government shutdown. Now they are threatening the separate and much more disruptive step of refusing to raise the federal debt ceiling, currently set at $16.7 trillion. Spending exceeds revenue, so without permission to borrow more, the government can’t pay its bills even if a law to allow spending goes through. If the debt ceiling stays in place, the Treasury will run short of cash soon after Oct. 17. At that point:

Senator John McCain, whose fellow Republicans triggered the crisis with demands that President Barack Obama's signature "Obamacare" healthcare law be defunded, said on Wednesday the deal marked the "end of an agonizing odyssey" for Americans. "It is one of the most shameful chapters I have seen in the years I've spent in the Senate," said McCain,