Article posted on Alternet is worth a read. This will be brief as I'm limited by Fair Use, so check out the piece. It provides some interesting history on funding that makes the point:
Now big-wigs are begging these yo-yos not to crash the economy.
America's great minds of business and finance have reached a consensus on the government shutdown and worse, the prospect of a debt default: While the latter is worse, both are bad. Those same great minds are well aware how the shutdown came to pass and why default still looms on the horizon, whether next week, next month, or next year.
Yes, the frightened corporate leaders surely know how this happened -- because their money funded the tea party candidates and organizations responsible for the crisis.
[...]
They have more than enough money and power to end this crisis -- and make sure it never happens again -- but they seem to lack the necessary character and courage.
Can everyone say, "Tea Party out of control?!"