Apocalypse How?

Source: www.americapictures.net

So there are two things happening on Thursday- my birthday and the deadline for congress passing a debt limit deal (and a looming Apocalypse as the media would constantly have us believe).  At that point, I am going to find out what omen my birthday might portend.  No, I don't believe I have any special ability to sway the future one way or the other, but it's fun to speculate nonetheless.  So why exactly are we at this crossroads to begin with?  Is there any logic behind these reasons?  Where do we go from here?  The reasons are several, the logic-possibly non-existent, and the path forward as I see it is uncertain.  My thoughts after the jump...

At this point everyone knows that the federal government is officially shut down and that we are nearing the debt ceiling limit.  The cause for this brinksmanship is a desire for conservative congressman to basically neuter the so-called "Affordable" Care Act and force more budgetary cuts and an unwillingness on the part of the executive branch to let go of any aspect of the Affordable Care Act or significantly cut any part of the budget.  Is it logical or even understandable that both sides want their way?  Certainly.  What doesn't make a bit of sense are their methods of playing politics with these issues or their unwillingness to act like grown ups and compromise.

The problem with those form the left wing is their constant characterization of this as an issue being caused by Ted Cruz and the "Tea Party" Republicans.  Articles such as this are nearly ubiquitous, but I think its the media trying to earn ratings by further vilifying the right wing of the Republican party.  Ted Cruz and his ilk are being unreasonable about trying to roll back a piece of legislation that was passed by both houses of Congress, but they don't represent the entire party.  People like the individual in this article who say things like "Obama should put down his Quran" should be strongly denounced for saying things bordering on fascism and should be told that there's no room for them in the modern Republican party.  The right's problem is less Ted Cruz and more a problem of leadership and a willingness to play politics to try and maneuver past this crisis by trying to force the other side to fold first.  The funny thing is that the left's problem pretty much boils down to the exact same issue.  Obama has stated more than once his unwillingness to compromise and has almost demonstrated an eagerness for the nation to exceed its debt limit in order to blame conservatives.  In this kind of atmosphere how can any meaningful progress be made?

The answer I fear is that there may be no path to successful negotiations.  As damaging to the U.S. and world economies as this issue could become, there may be no compromise prior to the deadline.  The parties are at the point of playing politics all the way to the bitter end while the rest of the world suffers.  This could have serious, long term implications for our bond markets, stock markets, and our standing in the world.  The Republican leadership is scared of creating a rift in their party, but a rift may be what they need.  It may create a third party and split the Republican party for a time, but I think that kind of strength in leadership would be admired by people on both sides of the aisle.  As much as I hold my conservative views dearly, I hold the future of this country more dearly.  I would gladly see one (or both) of the major parties split asunder, if it meant an end to this constant bickering and unwillingness to compromise and actually govern.  The only thing that keeps us from this is a fear from both sides that the other side will run things for too long and completely change our system of government.    Maybe things just need to get bad enough that we bring the entire world economy to the brink of an economic apocalypse, but again we risk any bit of credibility we have left for being the world's leader.  And the best, but most unrealistic, expectation is that both sides come up with an actual compromise that gives us more than a short term reprieve from another crisis a couple months down the road...