This republican Congress passed new rules that insist that every bill must mention the exact Constitutional right or ammendment that applies to the new laws they introduce. Wierd and whacky but true.

No gettin around bringing up the 14th ammendment which says "Congress MAY NOT QUESTION paying the debts of the United Sates of America."   short and sweet but to the point.

No Congress has ever held the USA hostage over paying the debt since George Washington was President... all except for this Boehner Congress.

So far the Republicans have agreed that the words new taxes will not be mentioned by either party, instead they have agreed to use the word REFORM of obligations. What will happen in the last 48 hours is that a temporary bill will pass that will basicly agree upon substantive change in the future. Hmmm it sounds just like what happened in Greece recently.