Cut, cap and Balance, was a bill that cut and capped spending and would have sent a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to the States for ratification. In all polls at least 66% of us supported a balanced budget, but Reid killed it with a procedural move rather than allowing it to come to a vote. The threat to investors is not that they will not get paid, but rather, they will not get as much interest on their investment, as a result they will not invest as much. The biggest "threat" is if our credit rating is downgraded. If that happens our interest rate goes up. It appears to me that this is going to happen no matter what happens,because those that buy our debt want to make money off of it. The only responsible choice I see is to reduce our debt as quickly as possible and that is where politics come into play. One side wants to cut spending and the other wants to increase taxes. Increasing taxes slowes economic growth and cutting spending does the same thing. The difference is philosophical, in that many believe that the Government should not be involved in a free market at all and their spending should be insignificant.