«Americans» awareness of policy uncertainty leading up to the October 1st shutdown and the pending debt ceiling debate appears to have grown as indicated by an apparent cautionary holding pattern in overall consumer housing and personal finance sentiment.» (rismedia.com)
Against this backdrop, President Obama and Congressional leaders engaged in a highly publicized and partisan debt ceiling debate that based on the stock market's initial reaction did little to improve the economic situation. (inc.com)
Of course the irony is that the current debt ceiling debate does not address any of the very important longer term fiscal issues that face the US such as Medicare funding and other booming social costs that lay ahead — these issues are not even on the table. (contraryinvestor.com)