Clock is Ticking in Debt Ceiling Negotiations

It's Sunday, July 24th.

Before all of this insanity regarding the nation's debt ceiling really started to pick up steam, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced (multiple times) that the "drop dead" date for negotiations was August 2nd.

If the debt ceiling wasn't raised by August 2nd, Geithner warned, the country would be facing a "catastrophe".

Nobody really expected that the two sides wouldn't come to an agreement before August 2nd. In fact, most people are still of the opinion that a deal will be reached sometime between now and August 2nd, and that the current rancorous negotiations are nothing more than political theatre.

However, with the August 2nd deadline just nine days away, people are starting to twitch and fret and worry.

After all, negotiations are not exactly going smoothly right now.

The two sides have tried different configurations of negotiating teams. There were the Biden talks. There were the Obama-Boehner talks. There were the McConnell-Reid talks. There was a second round of Obama-Boehner talks. After all of those talks failed, Boehner/Reid/McConnell/Pelosi met earlier today in the hopes of hashing out an agreement.

So far, nothing has worked.

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There is a growing uneasiness in the stomachs of many Americans right now. What would happen if the two sides actually failed to come to an agreement? What would happen if the United States actually defaulted? Nobody really wants to find out the answer to those questions.

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In the end, it's hard to imagine that the two sides will actually fail to reach an agreement. Most people (myself included) believe that the Republicans and Democrats will reach a deal with just moments to spare.

Between now and August 2nd, expect more drama and more walkouts. This is almost certainly going to come right down to the wire.

Filed under: The Economic Meltdown