No deal in sight for US government shutdown

The US government entered its 8th day of partial closure on Tuesday, with no end in sight amid bitter division between Republicans and the White House. Last week saw the first government shutdown in 17 years and nonessential U.S. government employees sent home after House Republicans made passing a budget contingent on delaying the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, for a year. The issue has now shifted to the debt ceiling. Democrats plan to introduce a bill later this week that would increase the country's 16.7 trillion U.S. dollar borrowing limit in a bid to prevent a default that could have major economic consequences. Oct. 17 is the next crucial deadline -- the last day that the U.S. Treasury Department estimates that the federal government is certain to have enough money to pay its bills. The legislation does not include the deficit-reducing measures Republicans want. And with less than two weeks before the deadline, the stage could be set for yet another showdown. Some experts believe the U.S. may fail to meet the deadline to pay interest on the massive U.S. debt, but emphasized that Washington is unlikely to completely blow off its debt responsibilities. "Could they go past the default deadline? It's possible. Are they going to actually default? No," Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua. While many experts contend the shutdown will have few real economic consequences, a Gallup poll released Tuesday found that Americans' confidence in the economy plunged this week. Indeed, it has deteriorated more over the past week than in any week since Lehman Brothers collapsed on Sept. 15, 2008, which sparked a global economic nosedive, the survey found. Gallup's Economic Confidence Index tumbled 12 points to minus 34 last week, the second-largest weekly decline since Gallup began tracking economic confidence daily in January 2008. While the U.S. economy is stronger than during the 2011 debt ceiling crisis, the current budget debate and government shutdown clearly show that partisan brinksmanship and the uncertainty it causes on Wall Street can negatively affect consumer confidence, Gallup found. What's more, Congress' inability to reach a compromise to end the shutdown and raise the debt ceiling could negatively affect U.S. stock prices, the country's credit rating and ultimately, the nation's economic recovery, Gallup argued. Many experts say the shutdown underscores the level of dysfunction in U.S. Congress. And if such drama in Washington becomes a regular occurrence, it could rattle Asia's confidence in the U.S. as a reliable trading partner. Indeed, the shutdown brouhaha caused President Barack Obama to cancel his travel plans to Southeast Asia over the weekend. Top agenda items included moving forward with the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Malaysia. Some analysts argue the U.S. could lose credibility with the region if leaders there view U.S. Congress as out of control, as it must ratify most trade agreements with foreign countries. "These negotiations will most likely go in favor of the U.S., (but) repeated delays could undermine the region's (Southeast Asia) sense of American reliability," the global intelligence group Stratfor said in an article.