As the US nears the brink, the budget row is exposing Republican madness

It is economically not feasible to cut the deficit without raising taxes. But as Reagan's presumptive heirs resist, default looms

Gary Younge
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 17 July 2011

Back in 2004 I met a pleasant Republican called Burton Kephart, who had lost his son in Iraq and wanted to save my soul. Opening his Bible at Matthew and Romans, he told me I was born a sinner but that, if I accepted Jesus into my heart, I could be saved.

I asked what would happen if I didn't. "Eternal judgment," he said. "Hell."

You're never that far away from the apocalypse in US culture or politics. The most popular books of the past decade, the Left Behind series, are based on a fictionalised account of the Judgment Day. The 12 books sold more than John Grisham. "I fear for this country if [John] Kerry wins," said Kephart. "God has a plan for the ages. Bush will hold back the evil a little bit." The facebook page "If Sarah Palin wins in 2012 – it will be the end of the world!!!" suggests a similar reflex among liberals, even if it's generally not religiously inspired.

So when President Barack Obama talks about "averting Armageddon", there is good reason to be sceptical. In a nation given to hyperbole, where 59% believe the events in Revelation are going to come true, there's always a swarm of locusts on the horizon.

Nonetheless, the truth is that, unless Obama reaches a deal with Congress by 2 August to raise the country's debt ceiling, effectively extending its credit limit so it can borrow more money, very bad things are going to happen. The US government will effectively run out of money. But it would go into default not because it can't pay its bills – like Greece – but because it won't.

(More here.)