"We may be approximately 24 hours from the United States government shutting down, and that's not even the bad news," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show. "The U.S. government is also rapidly approaching the debt ceiling," which, if it isn't raised by mid-October, will unleash "financial Armageddon," he said. That would be "bad news — and even worse timing, because America has already scheduled a plague Armageddon, a climate Armageddon, and a democracy Armageddon."
Worse still, Democrats want to raise the debt ceiling and Senate Republicans are blocking them, "so this is a totally avoidable crisis," Colbert said. "It would be like knowing there was a lifesaving medicine available during a pandemic, and not taking it. Wait, wait! Maybe we should inject the budget with horse paste." Democrats also have to pass their $3.5 trillion Build Back Better package the bipartisan infrastructure bill, "and here's the problem — and it's two problems," he said: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-Ariz.) are "holding up the entire government but they won't tell anyone what they want."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
A Man on the Inside: Netflix comedy leaves you with a 'warm fuzzy feeling'The Week Recommends Charming series has a 'tenderness' that will 'sneak up' on you
-
Bread & Roses: an 'extraordinarily courageous' documentaryThe Week Recommends Sahra Mani's 'powerful' film examines the lives of three Afghan women under the Taliban
-
V13: a 'marvelous and terrifying' account of the Bataclan terror trialsThe Week Recommends Emmanuel Carrère's work is 'absolutely gripping'
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikesSpeed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
-
Cuba's energy crisisThe Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
-
Putin's fixation with shamansUnder the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
-
A brief history of third parties in the USIn Depth Though none of America's third parties have won a presidential election, they have nonetheless had a large impact on the country's politics
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseasesUnder the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi GrasThe Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 MarchPuzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
