Tick, tick. August 2nd is the Debt Limit Armageddon. Or Not.

Where's that guy who declared the end of the world recently? Maybe, only his timing was off.

I can get more pissed off than I am and watch financial Armageddon unfold or I can subscribe to a conspiracy theory that prevents financial meltdown, allows the leaders to all save face and live to survive another election while at the same time exposing fanaticism for what it is...............

Distress is not an easily measured condition for an economy. Investors may have become apprehensive when the values of certain variables diverged significantly from average values...... There may be contemporary awareness of the approach of some limit, such as the ceiling on note issues by the Bank of England stipulated in the Bank Act of 1844, the $100 million gold minimum requirement of the U.S. Treasury in 1893, the ceiling on advances from the Bank of France to the French Treasury in 1924, the gold reserve ratio of the Reichsbank under the Dawes Plan in June 1931, or the free gold available to the Federal Reserve System prior to the passage of the Glass-Steagall Act in February 1932.

ChadPergram Pelosi as she left the Capitol: As we get closer to the time, we have to get closer to the solution. She then told me to go home.

Today 6:23 PM Fox Guest Advises Viewers To Take Out $1,000 In Cash

There is, it appears, an emerging sense of panic developing on the cable news circuit over the state of a deal on the nation's debt ceiling. On Fox News Saturday afternoon, Patricia Powell, founder and CEO of Powell Financial Group, advised viewers that they would be wise to have $1,000 in cash on hand if Congress were unable to come to a deal.

"Everybody needs a cash reserve and I'm talking … seriously about cash, cash dollars in your wallet -- not just maybe money in the bank, but you also want money in the bank and not just in the money market fund," said Powell. "None of us know, if they … choose to default, whether there is going to be a credit crunch, whether you might have some trouble accessing some of your credit, and you might even have some trouble with your money market funds. So none of us know. Make sure you have cash."

"How much are you talking about?" asked the Fox host.

"For most of us, if we had $1000 in bills, in our drawer, we would be fine," said Powell. "I don't expect that you're going to need them, but you know what? If you need them, it would be nice to have."

It should be noted that there are a number of steps that banks take to avoid runs on their cash, including temporarily suspending withdrawals.

ABC News has learned that Republicans and the White House have struck a tenative deal to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline. It's not done yet, but here is the framework of the tentative deal they have worked out, according to a source familiar with the negotiations:

Debt ceiling increase of up to $2.8 trillion
Spending cuts of roughly $1 trillion
Special committee to recommend cuts of $1.8 trillion (or whatever it takes to add up to the total of the debt ceiling increase)
Committee must make recommendations before Thanksgiving recess
If Congress does not approve those cuts by late December, automatic across-the-board cuts go into effect, including cuts to Defense and Medicare.

Sounds reasonable - so far.

If this is the only way for "compromise," they have my blessings.

Pelosi 'Clearly' Backs 14th Amendment Option In Debt Standoff, Congressman Reports
7/31/11

WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) may not be pushing the issue publicly, but in private she "clearly" supports President Barack Obama using the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling as a last resort, according to one Democratic member of Congress.

"Nancy clearly wants it," said the lawmaker, who requested anonymity. "Publicly? No. Privately? She thinks the president should do it. Period."

Several top Democrats have endorsed the idea in recent days as an eleventh hour solution: House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) backed the option on Wednesday, and House Democratic Caucus chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) and Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) emerged from a Monday Caucus meeting announcing their support for the idea as well.

But Pelosi, the highest-ranking House Democrat, has been mum. One possible reason is that she has to preserve the image that Congress will reach a deal before the situation even gets to that point.

The provision at the heart of the constitutional debate, Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, states: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” Essentially, Democrats are arguing that since the "public debt" cannot be questioned, then the debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional.

A Pelosi aide said he hasn't heard the Minority Leader endorse the constitutional option to any lawmakers. "But who knows," said the aide. "Our official line is her energy is focused on getting a balanced deal."

That "deal," of course, remains nonexistent. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met with Obama for nearly two hours on Saturday afternoon, shortly after the House voted down Reid's debt ceiling proposal. Reid took to the Senate floor afterward to knock Republicans for refusing to negotiate and said "the process has not been moved forward during this day."

The crumbling state of discussions over how to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, when the government is expected to run out of money to pay its bills, is causing a growing number of Democrats to nervously turn their attention to the constitutional option as a possible way of averting default. Meanwhile, the White House insists the option remains off the table, citing concerns with Obama's legal authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval.

The issue "came up" during a Democratic Caucus meeting on Saturday, Del. Donna Christensen (D-Virgin Islands) told The Huffington Post, but was not considered a viable option "for today."

"It's one I don't like, and I know the president has said he doesn't like," said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). "But if that's what it takes to prevent the country from catastrophic default, I think at the very last minute, I think that's something the president's going to have to consider."

When asked if he is optimistic that Congress can reach a deal by August 2, Connolly replied with a resounding "no."

"I think we're coming down the wire and the other side is essentially enthralled to a very narrow orthodoxy that doesn't allow them, ultimately, to recognize their obligations to the United States," he said. "I'm very concerned about that."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the former chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, charged forward on Saturday, filing a resolution with a group of progressive Democrats calling on Obama to take the constitutional route as a last resort.

"I think it's essential" that Obama be prepared to invoke the 14th Amendment, Nadler told The Huffington Post. "I'm dubious that anybody can come to any agreement that can pass both houses."

Asked if such action would only give ammunition to critics ready to call for Obama's impeachment -- this time for potentially violating the Constitution -- Nadler replied, "Let them try. Let them try."

The New York Democrat wondered aloud how much of the president's insistence that the option is off the table is for show, given that he needs to convey that the situation won't come to that point.

"It's something he should say," Nadler said of Obama's rejection of the 14th Amendment option. "But the fact is, legally, I think it's doable."

The increasing anxiety about an endgame was evident during Saturday's House debate. In the minutes before the House rejected Reid's debt proposal, some Democrats used their floor time to urge Obama to step in.

"The president needs to pull the 14th Amendment," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said. "I think he should, because the Republicans have shown no sign of compromise."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/30/congressman-pelosi-clearly-backs-14th-amendment-in-debt-standoff_n_914137.html?icid=main%7Chp-laptop%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%7C220562

Pelosi 'Clearly' Backs 14th Amendment Option In Debt Standoff, Congressman Reports

Senate vote postponed until 1:00 pm Sunday.

Quote:

ABC News has learned that Republicans and the White House have struck a tenative deal to raise the debt ceiling before the Aug. 2 deadline. It's not done yet, but here is the framework of the tentative deal they have worked out, according to a source familiar with the negotiations:

Debt ceiling increase of up to $2.8 trillion
Spending cuts of roughly $1 trillion
Special committee to recommend cuts of $1.8 trillion (or whatever it takes to add up to the total of the debt ceiling increase)
Committee must make recommendations before Thanksgiving recess
If Congress does not approve those cuts by late December, automatic across-the-board cuts go into effect, including cuts to Defense and Medicare.

Quote:

Pelosi 'Clearly' Backs 14th Amendment Option In Debt Standoff, Congressman Reports
7/31/11
....Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the former chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, charged forward on Saturday, filing a resolution with a group of progressive Democrats calling on Obama to take the constitutional route as a last resort.....

The plan, parts of which are still being negotiated by the White House and bipartisan congressional leaders, would allow the debt ceiling to be raised by enough to last at least through the end of 2012.

The debt limit would be increased in two stages, both of which would occur automatically -- a key Democratic demand that would prevent a repeat of the current crisis before the next election.

The agreement includes upfront spending cuts in the range of roughly $1 trillion, the sources said. A special congressional committee would recommend additional spending reductions of up to $1.8 trillion no later than Thanksgiving.

If Congress fails to approve the recommended cuts by late December, automatic, across-the-board cuts -- including both defense and Medicare -- would take effect.

News of a possible deal came shortly after the Senate delayed consideration of Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt ceiling proposal late Saturday night, pushing back a key procedural vote by 12 hours.