Despite a glimmer of progress on Thursday, the doomsday scenario is all too plausible. While I get more cynical about politics every year, I keep concluding that I'm not cynical enough. It's happened again. Congress could long see two deadlines looming ahead: a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1 if no budget was passed, and a potentially cataclysmic collision with the national debt ceiling if that limit wasn't raised in time. I'll get to the economics shortly, but first