God says “Vote NO on Boehner debt plan”

The world's smartest minds have warned in dire terms that failing to increase the U.S. government's debt ceiling by Aug. 2 would unleash economic havoc, perhaps as severe as the 2008 economic crisis.

And so as the hours tick away to that deadline, and markets continue to fall, Republican House Speaker John Boehner has been struggling hard to get holdouts in his party to vote for a deal.

So far he's failed, despite many hours of Congressional debate and a particularly energetic effort whip his party into line.

Here's the problem: he faces an opponent far more forceful and omniscient than any mortal pundit, lobbyist or power broker.

He's up against God himself.

Credit the Wall Street Journal with the scoop.  

A lead article today parses the "unusually stark scene of power politics" in which the House Speaker groveled and pleaded for a deal with Tea Party intransigents.

Given the high stakes and the short deadline (not to mention that the debate is delaying Congress's summer recess), if Tea Partiers weren't listening to Boehner, who were they listening to?

The Journal reports: 

"A trio of South Carolina Republicans, Reps. Jeff Duncan, Mick Mulvaney and Tim Scott, said they were going to consult a spiritual authority in the congressional prayer room. 'At the end of the day, when you need divine inspiration, you go to the divine source,' said Mr. Scott, who was listening to Christian music on his iPad as he entered.

But, he added, 'I think divine inspiration already happened. I was a lean no. Now I'm a no.'"

How can you argue with that?

The big question that remains is, will Tea Party antics push Washington into the lap of the Democrats? Despite Republican efforts to tar Obama with the debt imbroglio, Wall Street is increasingly fed-up with the shenanigans from the right. 

More from GlobalPost: Who owns America? Hint: It's not China.

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