The Republicans are the bulk owners of American capital & enterprise. They know these taxes are coming after their interests as main-street is taxed enough already.

what i think is that the us government won't be able to cut near enough spending. And it'll be difficult to raise taxes as well.

don't forget also that as has happened elsewhere, government control of the quantity of money has always proved fatal.

The easiest way out for the government would therefore be to let its currency crash along with its economy...sending intense shockwaves to the rest of economies globally.

what could this plan b be?

That is debatable. Republicans these days almost equals WASP - White AngloSaxon Protestant - with majority in the middle class.

The democrats have every hue of human skin colours that is known to man but very importantly can also boast of the poorest (read African americans and latinos) and the richest (Jewish and Irish immigrants).

I am not sure that taxes are the issue here rather that America is much more radicalised and on the cusp of another civil-rights-moment shift like in the mid sixties.

America managed to outsource not only jobs but also saving habits to China and the rest of Asia while also training the best Chinese and Indian minds to go back and develop their countries. I suppose that is just payback for a country built on the back of slave labour and the barrel of a gun. It is just a matter of time before it breaks up into smaller states in the same way that the Soviet and all other empires did.

this might not help much considering that a large amount of it has been paid by the members (citizenry) through mandatory deductions...

@Cde - Enter the dragon, crouching tiger vs fist of the monkey... Dagong follows up US debt downgrade... Now where's my popcorn

http://www.chinadaily.co...13/content_12889286.htm

The tide is certainly turning. Uncle Sam is steadily losing the top perch especially in terms of how the rest of the world perceives them.

Listened to one analyst quipping about how Greece's debt per capita is below that of the U.S.A. Is that really true?

The US is not going to default and if they do it would not be by default. We all know that Republicans are trying to dangle the carrot at the poor black president but they'll come to their senses. As I'd said earlier If they do default it would be to hurt China who is the biggest creditor by country to the US with over $1trillion. Don't underestimate the US, they set the standards under which we all operate when it comes to economics.

That said, I was watching Piers Morgan jana and he had an interesting guest who eluded to say China is slowly becoming the new US with their kids studying all over the world and topping their classes. While Americans spend a big part of their budget on their military, .5m soldiers deployed out of the US, the Chinese are only spending on research and new technology and weaponry.

A chinese leader was interviewed and he said "rather than kill you, I'd rather have you as my friends so I can make products you need and sell to you, that way we're all happy". Now isn't that simple logic? What do you have in your house that's made in America? And what do you have in your house that's not made in China?

China and US are joined at the hip. A default would mean China's rapid ascent will be jeopardized.

Currently, China is the biggest holder of US debt instruments followed by Japan.

That's why China is jittery about US devaluing the dollar!

But i wonder what a US default would portend for Africa?

...According to 14th Amendment, section 4 of the US constitution, it is unconstitutional for US government to default on it's debt obligation. How amazing is the US constitution keep it up to whoever wrote it.