If a major bond ratings agency fires a shot across America’s to warn it get its act together, but a small group of Tea Party conservative extremists in the US Congress are too dumb to hear it, does it make a sound?

Ratings agency Fitch has for now retained the US “AAA” credit rating, but placed it “under review”; the step before downgrading.

“The [Fitch] announcement reflects the urgency with which Congress should act to remove the threat of default hanging over the economy,” a US Treasury spokesperson said.

The US must raise its US$16.7 Trillion debt limit by Thursday or risk default.  But political brinksmanship is blocking any progress.

Americans woke up on Tuesday with word that the Senate was working on a bill to reopen government and raise the debt limit.  But the leader of the republicans, Mitch McConnell put the negotiations on hold when it was learned the House of Representatives was working on its own bill.

But House Democrats recognized it as another attempt to push through the republican social agenda, specifically, limiting women’s access to birth control.  That sort of crazy talk simply didn’t get enough votes when America made its choice in last year’s election, and the Dems signaled they’d reject it.

And then the strings got pulled:  Two conservative political pressure groups funded by a shadowy network of billionaires began tweeting their lawmakers, urging them to vote “no” because the House Republican bill didn’t go far enough for conservative groups.

And that’s where the threat to the world economy stands.