Via Ewan MacAskill of the UK Guardian, the following assessment by the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary in Tory David Cameron's cabinet, Vince Cable, of the current global financial conjuncture:
The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow morning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters in the American Congress rather than the eurozone.
MacAskill notes that such frank talk by a Cabinet secretary "broke the unwritten rule of non-intervention in other countries' domestic disputes," signaling the degree of concern in European capitals over the failure of the US to get its fiscal house in order.
We're still waiting to hear what Boehner will propose, though TPM is reporting that he will hold a conference call with the House GOP caucus at 4:30 pm EDT -- about an hour from now. According to Bloomberg, he apparently is considering a two-stage approach -- requiring a second vote next year -- which the White House has already rejected as unacceptable. White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley on Meet the Press this morning stated the president would veto such a plan if it were to reach his desk.
So the GOP continues to take a fundamentally non-serious approach to the crisis they themselves created, and Vince Cable's assessment of the situation appears to be basically accurate.