User blog comment:Hyperborean/"The House of Hades" – official expectations blog/@comment-1515612-20131002031013/@comment-4531192-20131002191750

America ran out of money to pay its bills a long time ago (and it's by far not the only country). Raising the debt ceiling is just done to create the illusion of being able to pay off the government debt. Now the Congress can either give in and end the shutdown or commit political suicide and let America default (and potentially plunge the country into another recession).