For the Pentagon and the sprawling defense industry, the worst may be yet to come. The grim reality is that if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, default could prove more damaging than sequestration and the government shutdown. Payments to the military, defense contractors and veterans would be delayed, among other drastic actions. “Default will only compound the disastrous impacts of sequestration, shutdown and furloughs,” said Chip Sheller, a spokesman for the Aerospace Industries Association. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are scrambling to reach a deal to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling before Thursday, when the Treasury Department has warned it will exhaust its borrowing authority. -snip- “It’s not a pretty picture,” said Gordon Adams, a fellow at the Stimson Center and a former defense budget official in the Clinton administration. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have expressed optimism about the prospects for avoiding such a scenario, with some senators predicting on Monday a deal was at hand between Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), two veterans of the trenches of tough deals. To read the full article, click here.
