re: POLL: Will the US default?

What exactly were they fighting for? I know it started on Obamacare, but the majority of Obamacare is funded through permanent appropriations so any funding they would/could have withheld wasn't much. They quickly abandoned that fight, and moved to trumpeting to anyone that would listen that the US wouldn't default if the debt ceiling wasn't raised. This despite every financial expert warning of the economic catastrophe that would occur if the debt ceiling wasn't raised. They had absolutely no leg to stand on in the debate, and it was evident from the start. Reid and Obama knew it, which is why they dug in and held strong. The irony is they may have lost any leg they may have had in the utter failure of the ACA rollout so far.