Shutdown: Complete PoliticalDeadlock in Washington

Nothing came of President Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders last night. The president canceled a planned trip on Oct. 11 to Malaysia and another to the Philippines.

On Thursday morning, Oct. 3, more than 800,000 U.S. government employees began their third straight day of forced leave without pay. The dialogue of the deaf between Republicans and Democrats continues. Nothing came of President Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders last night.

On the contrary, Republicans still demand a delay in the implementation of health care reform, commonly called “Obamacare.” In exchange, they would be willing to pass a budget to fund the federal government until mid-December. For their part, Democrats refuse to discuss anything unless a lasting resolution to re-open all government agencies passes. Republicans, under pressure from their right wing, dismiss this prerequisite for a return to a normal functioning of the state before any discussion.

The tone of both camps is icier than ever. After more than one hour of discussion behind closed doors in the Oval Office, John Boehner, leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, came out with a sober face. “The president reiterated one more time tonight that he will not negotiate. All we’re asking for here is a discussion and fairness for the American people under Obamacare,” declared this congressman from Ohio, third in command of the government as Speaker of the House, before disappearing into his car.

Soon after, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was barely any more talkative but no less firm on his positions. “Stop playing these foolish games,” he said. Like Barack Obama, he believes that some 40 representatives of the tea party are imposing a hostage price of 800,000 employees on Boehner to extort a ransom in the form of a postponement of health care reform.

Obama preferred to remain invisible and silent after this meeting. He had previously warned that he was not inviting the leaders of Congress to the White House “to negotiate.” Earlier in the day, he received the bosses of the largest banks in the country. Leaving their interview, they emphasized the gravity of the situation, but mainly, they are alarmed to see that the dispute about the budget and “Obamacare” is going to spill over into the extremely serious but distinct question of raising the public debt ceiling.

If Congress does not vote before Oct. 17 to raise the ceiling, the U.S. Treasury can no longer borrow the money needed to repay its debts. Uncle Sam would find himself in an impossible and catastrophic situation by default. “There’s no debate that the seriousness of the U.S. not paying its debts … is the most serious thing we have,” lamented Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America, the second largest bank of the United States.

The political crisis and absence of real negotiations between the two camps is such that Obama canceled a part of his planned trip to Asia starting Saturday. It is possible that he will even cancel it completely.

Generally, American presidents always try to re-assure markets, but yesterday, Barack Obama deliberately adopted the opposite attitude, as if hoping that a drop in Wall Street would force Republicans to take his warnings on the severity of any challenge to the capacity of the U.S. to pay its debts seriously. “I think Wall Street should be concerned … When you have a situation in which a faction is willing potentially to default on U.S. government obligations, then we are in trouble,” declared the American president in the morning on the business news channel CNBC.