Back when Ronald Reagan was President of the United States he had to deal with a debt ceiling problem just like President Obama. Back then he called the party fighting over solving the problem a game of brinksmanship. He warned  Congress that not raising the debt limit could cause a financial catastrophe.

Quoting the Washington Post: “In a November 1983 letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Howard H. Baker Jr. (R-Tenn.), Reagan warned that without a higher debt ceiling, the country could be forced to default for the first time in its history.”

Why does history keep having a habit of repeating itself?