Boehner and McConnell know that causing a drawn out shutdown or, even worse, a debt default, is political suicide for the GOP (though McConnell does have a Teatard primary challenger to worry about; I’m reading one of his ads on LGF as I write this). So I’m confident that after possibly a brief shutdown or at nearly the last possible moment before a default, deals will be struck, even if Boehner has to suspend the Hastert Rule again. But the markets will be roiled and damage done to the economic recovery as a consequence. Even some Republicans know domestic spending is about as low as it can get; that’s why they couldn’t pass a Transportation and Housing Bill based on the numbers required to meet the Ryan budget. This is no way to run a government, but since GOP Congressmen only worry about being primaried from the right and not about appearing totally insane, we are stuck waiting for the GOP’s aging reactionary base to die off before we can once again have a legislative branch that functions.