Did y'all think America was going to continue forever? I know America has fallen and things are soon to get progressively worse, but this for the most part, is a precaution that they would take regardless if a deal is reached. For example, I worked for military finance in 2011 when the U.S. was facing another government shutdown/debt ceiling 'crisis'. If a deal wasn't reached by the pay cut off date, soldiers were only going to be paid for 'X' amount of days instead of the normal two week cycle. From what I remember, the pay was prorated but once the funding came through, they were able to 'push' the rest of the money through so the soldiers didn't realize a thing. Odds are a deal will be reached, but the shock testing they are doing like randomly stopping food stamps because of a 'glitch' is soon going to be a permanent reality.