Debt Ceiling, Schmet Ceiling...

Eh.
No seriously.
Reminds me of the suit guys who take up an "extreme" sport. Like they don't have enough risk in their own lives, so they have to push, push for more. Sometimes, they get it.
These financial/political games playing out on a big stage: "The whole world is watching..." dramatics, (hey, I caught a bit of cspan after hours; out for the prime-time speech action...) are mostly a bore to the rest of us, I dare say.
Do the hedgies win, or do they not?
Me? I'm hedging my bets...

Back at hand, most of us are blessed with other matters closer at hand to consider. The school supplies are coming out, at their cheapest and greatest choice of the season. Picked me up some 49 cent memo pads, small enough to slip in the pocket when I'm out taking photos.

The garden continues to grow... the rain and sun still working on schedule, though they get kinks in the systems sometimes too, it seems. The rivers are swollen somewhat this summer, and running fast, which makes for a nice ride or two on a sunny day.

Summertime's here, and the living's easy.

Unless, of course, you're back in Washington sweating the term paper come due. That's a bit like bills to be paid, in the land of thinkers and traders, no? Summer school's still in session, and it's not the grades or even a paycheck so much that hangs in the balance, just the fate of the country, they say.

Good luck, guys. We'd send the cheerleaders, but we've had to cut back already.

ADDED: Andrew Ross Sorkin on "wiggle room", miscalculating, and political posturing:

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.

How did it come to this?

The administration may have made a strategic mistake in warning too soon that the market would react negatively. It ultimately undercuts the government’s negotiating position because the doomsday scenario has not played out, even though the deadline is fast approaching.

“They have lost all credibility,” said Neil M. Barofsky, the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. “It’s so typical of the way Treasury and the Fed treat everything — it is always to warn that Armageddon is coming.”

The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, is among those who may have miscalculated.

He has consistently held out Aug. 2 as the cutoff date for lawmakers to reach a compromise. After that, Mr. Geithner has said the government might not be able to continue sending out Social Security checks or Medicare payments. “On Aug. 2, we’re left running on fumes,” he told the CBS program “Face the Nation.”

He told me back in May that he was expecting to reach a deal by mid-July, way ahead of the final deadline. “Why would you want to experiment? In July, you’d want this done.”

But increasingly, the market seems to believe it was a false deadline. Some economists have said the government would have enough cash on hand to continue making payments for several days at least. The administration could also decide how to prioritize payments. The government, for instance, could opt to pay interest on Treasuries and put off other bills.

In other words, the United States has some wiggle room.

“The Aug. 2 deadline is not as hard as indicated by Secretary Geithner,” said Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive of Pimco, the large bond manager.

It doesn’t help the government’s case that investors believe the debate over the debt ceiling amounts to political posturing.

BONUS MUSICAL INTERLUDE:

Shaggy, Keep'n It Real.

When I was young
I used to dream of being rich
Have a lot of houses and cars
Couldn't know which one was which...
And finding me a chick and getting hitched
Living the fairy tale life, perfect without a ditch.
You think that this would bring me happiness
If at the end of every rainbow
There was a treasure chest
Sometimes having more is really less.
So take a look inside yourself
You'll realize you're really blessed.
No matter how you're sad and blue
There's always someone who has it worse than you
Sometimes you gotta pay your dues
So don't worry just push on through...

Keep'n it real
Gotta big up all my peoples who be working on the future,
Though they know they gotta struggle.
Keep'n it real
To all my homies working on the 9 to 5
And doing right to keep themselves up out of trouble.
Keep'n it real
Although sometimes I know it seems impossible
There ain't no need in drowning in your sorrows.
Keep'n it real
If things are as bad as they can be
You can be sure there'll be a brighter tomorrow.

And I forgot to have myself the house, the mansion, and the Benz
I'm not the type of brother who be making mad ends
I got myself a girl but we be kickin' it as friends
Is that enough for me, now that depends
Again- not everything you want is everything you really need
The standard of society is motivated by greed
Are you prepared to follow?
Tell me, are you prepared to lead?
So persevere and you'll succeed...

Keep'n it real.