There is talk of a budget deal that avoids a government shutdown.  The amount of debt is crazy, but the politics of not getting the deal done are significant.  At some point, we will hit the point of painful return, but we are not there yet.  Maybe we are and don’t know it, but this is yet another issue for the Fed to deal with because servicing this debt could soon reach $1,000,000,0000,000 annual.