The bleak reason why America is always on the verge of a government shutdown

Tell me if you’ve heard this story before.

A bunch of lawmakers return to Washington. They’ve got a tight deadline and an unruly crew of right-wing hardliners to deal with. The Republican leadership wants to go it alone, but understands the party is going to have to deal with Democrats if it wants to keep the government’s lights on. And looming over all of this is the debt ceiling, a time bomb that could take out much of the world economy if it is allowed to go off...