There does seem to be a bunch of nutters in the Capitol Hill. I still think that the gravity of potential consequences of a default will dawn on the members of the Congress, concentrate their minds, so that they will find a way to lift the debt ceiling, but they are leaving it very late.
Even if a default is averted this time around, at the last minute, it does not augur well for the future that this matter has been allowed to reach the point it has, and that this spectacle may well be repeated in the not-so-distant future as the proposed plans do not add up. Some politicians are risking the credibility of the US in the eyes of the market and the world: can people continue to trust the US politicians to act in a rational and reasonable manner? Perhaps damage is already done.