[posimoka]

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Republicans are now openly flirting with the theory that allowing the United States to default briefly on its payment obligations won't be such a bad thing -- and may even be necessary to extract concessions on entitlement spending in exchange for raising the debt limit.

But two of the biggest ratings agencies say they could downgrade the United States' triple-A credit if the government misses even a single debt-service payment.

"A sovereign's failure to service its debt as payments come due is a default according to S&P's sovereign rating criteria," writes John Piecuch, spokesman for Standard & Poors, one of the "Big Three" credit ratings agencies, in an email to me. "In that case, the rating would be lowered to "SD" (Selective Default)."

[gWhya5ct]

Most people do not understand the debt ceiling. Here's I how explain the concept: You ran up the debt already. When Vinny shows up and says, "Screw you, pay me," you don't argue. You beg, steal or borrow the money and pay what you owe, today. Next week, you get another job to bring in more money, cut back on your spending... whatever it takes so that you can make the next payment on time.

What you don't do is throw your grandmother out in the streets or stop feeding your kids. You sell the fancy car, quit buying video games, and do whatever it takes to bring in some extra cash. You don't want another visit from Vinny the debt ceiling -- the huge, ugly, I'm-gonna-break-your-kneecaps debt ceiling.

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Anyone up for a game of Chicken?