With little sense of urgency in the halls of Congress, bipartisan budget talks resume today at the Capitol, as Vice President Biden convenes a meeting of key House and Senate lawmakers looking for a deal on both the federal budget and debt limit.
It's been just over two weeks since the last meeting of this group, which many feel represents the best chance for a 'grand bargain' on budget and debt matters.
The negotations resume a day after a third investment rating company, Fitch Ratings, warned that it might downgrade the credit status of the U.S. government if Congress does not increase the nation's debt limit by early August.
"In Fitch's opinion, agreement will ultimately be reached on raising the debt ceiling and the US government will make full and timely payments on its debt," the company said in a statement.
"Nevertheless, such a 'tail risk' for the world's most important fixed-income issuer warrants comment as well as clarity from Fitch for users of its ratings as to the potential consequences of a failure to raise the debt ceiling, including a default on US Treasury securities."
It may well be that these ratings agencies could play a major role in these talks, by threatening financial consequences, thusforcing the two sides into an agreement which otherwise might not be possible.
The talks have been going on for over a month now and - at least in public - don't seem to have produced a great deal of progress.
Both President Obama and Speaker Boehner have said they want a deal by the end of this month; the Treasury Department says a deal is needed by early August to avoid a broader default by Uncle Sam.
Most rank-in-file lawmakers say they expect a deal right before the deadline.
Stay tuned.
