Well, now the fat is really in the fire. If Boehner is serious, it is likely we are going to discover what happens when a grown up, first world country starts acting like Greece and defaults on its obligations.

Reuters:

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday that there is "no way" Republican lawmakers will agree to a measure to raise the nation's debt ceiling unless it includes conditions to rein in deficit spending.

Pressed on the ABC news program "This Week" on whether the Republican-led House would pass a "clean" debt ceiling increase that included no conditions, Boehner replied: "I told the president, there's no way we're going to pass one."

"We're not going down that path," he added. "It is time to deal with America's problems. How can you raise the debt limit and do nothing about the underlying problem?"

As the country moved into the sixth day of a government shutdown, Boehner was equally adamant that Republicans would demand concessions for any bill to reopen the government.

Republicans want changes to President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law known as Obamacare as a condition for backing a measure to fund government agencies.

Obama and the Democratic-led Senate have rejected that demand.

Obama has also said it is the responsibility of Congress to raise the debt limit by an October 17 deadline when the government will begin running short of the funds needed to pay its bills.

He has said he will not negotiate with Republicans over that issue.

Forget about paying off debt that comes due after October 17 with monthly tax receipts. Reprogramming the Treasury Department's computers, which send out 100 million checks a month, would take months. Like the Obamacare computer system, it is technologically unfeasible.

The problem is that the administration has been crying wolf so often - first on the sequester and now on the shutdown - that no one believes Secretary Lew when he warns of catastrophe. Blowing through the debt limit is nothing like a government shutdown, although just how bad it's going to be is anyone's guess. Certainly, there are international implications at stake. The big bankers are very worried about a credit freeze and if that happens, we'll have a replay of 2008. Interest rates would almost certainly go up, increasing our debt service costs. And, of course, the markets are going to love a default.

If we're so worried about Obamacare blowing up the economy, why refuse to raise the debt limit and achieve the same result?