stake. so much is at stake. you know, it s always a terrible time to play chicken with the debt limit. in a pandemic, especially dangerous. a reminder, this is paying the bill for what congress has already spent. america always pays its bills. in fact, the entire global financial system relies on the fact that the u.s. has never defaulted on its debt. something that would damage america s credit and undermine the public health emergency we re in right now. the treasury secretary, janet yellen, has been moving money around. she s keeping the bills paid but is running out of wiggle room. this is not wonky washington politics. it is real world. without raising the debt ceiling, social security checks could stop for nearly 50 million seniors. troops can t be paid. critical monthly child tax credit payments could stop. there is a risk of a new crisis. yellen warns defaulting on america s obligations could trigger a spike in interest rates, a drop in stock prices, and other financial turmo