Each day brings the country closer to when the debt ceiling either will have to be raised or the federal government will go into default. The debate boils down to two questions: 1) What specific cuts will parties find palatable enough to include in a final package? and 2) Can the final deal pass through the legislative process before either the debt ceiling is hit or the bond market panics? Either action would send the ever-so-fragile American economy into a tailspin.

The Congressional Budget Office just released an analysis showing the House of Representatives GOP caucus deal with President Obama on the budget saves less money than initially believed. As a result, many Republicans want additional reductions in addition to cuts they already requested as a condition for raising the debt ceiling.

Speaker Boehner Calls for Compromise

While Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has stressed the importance and possibility of compromise, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has taken a harder line. This split points to the possibility that any vote would require a mix of centrist Democratic and Republican votes to make it through Congress; Republicans who find any eventual cuts too small, as well as Democrats who find such cuts too large, are expected to vote "No" on any eventual compromise.

Vice President Joe Biden will lead bipartisan talks on raising the debt ceiling, but critics say none of the members of Congress chosen to represent their parties at the talks are known for leadership on deficit issues. President Obama's preference for triggers - policies that would automatically enact tax increases and spending cuts if deficit-reduction benchmarks are not reached - is unlikely to find much support among Republicans.

Gang of Six Senators Keeping Details Secret

All eyes have turned once again to the bipartisan Gang of Six in the Senate to come up with the eventual compromise. However, while the members have commented on the broad outline of their eventual goals - deficit reduction through spending cuts, entitlement reforms and increased tax revenue - they are still keeping the details secret.

The biggest news to come from Gang of Six member public appearances occurred this past Sunday, when Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), perhaps the leading Republican senator on budget and deficit issues, appeared on "Meet the Press." In the past, Senator Coburn had signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" put together by Americans for Tax Reform, for signatories who agree not to raise taxes on Americans.

However, Coburn has come out in favor of increasing tax revenue as one part of any deal to decrease the federal budget deficit. When asked if this stance violated the pledge, Coburn said, "Which pledge is most important: the pledge to uphold your oath to the Constitution of the United States, or a pledge from a special interest group who claims to speak for all American conservatives when, in fact, they really don't? The fact is we have enormous urgent problems in front of us that have to be addressed and have to be addressed in a way that will get 60 votes in the Senate."

At the same time, Tea Party members in the House have vowed not to vote for any compromise piece of legislation that includes raising taxes, making compromise difficult to reach. Such a complicated and detailed piece of legislation may take too long to craft, given the short timeframe before the debt ceiling is either reached or the bond markets panics in reaction to uncertainty over the future of the debt ceiling. Earlier this year, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geitner estimated the country would hit the ceiling sometime before May 31.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty facing members of Congress is that raising the debt ceiling is extremely unpopular. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents are all against doing so. According to a recent Marist poll, 70 percent of all Americans are against raising the debt ceiling. But this practical truth remains: a failure to act could cause the federal government to default on its debt and bring down the entire American economy. Some in Washington believe that enacting the best politically feasible policy may be the savviest political move of all.