Welcome to Begg to Differ, the Bullworks' weekly roundtable discussion featuring civil

conversation across the political spectrum.

We range from center left to center right, I'm Mona Charen, syndicated columnist and

policy editor at the Bullwork, and I'm joined by our regulars Bill Galston of the Brookings

Institution and the Wall Street Journal.

Damon Linker, who writes the sub-stack newsletter notes in the middle ground and Linda Chavez

of the Nascannon Center.

Our special guest today is the publisher of the Bullwork, Sarah Longwell.

Thank you one and all, Sarah, great to have you.

Thanks for having me.

We are co-reigning into another of these almost uniquely American dramas, the Dead Sealing

Breakmanship, where we take the country right up to the edge of default.

And in every previous episode, there has been a final last minute, perils of Pauline

escape from the precipice, but people are not sure that it's going to end that way

this time.

A number of Republican budget experts, economists, policy-wank types have actually gone

public with their worries, including Brian Rydall of Senator Rob Portman's staff and

who's associated with the Manhattan Institute, Michael Strain of AEI, Douglas Holtz, Egan,

former director of the CBO, they've all tried to sound the alarm that even getting up

to the edge of a default is, I think, strain called it a market event, meaning it would

be potentially problematic.

Sarah Longwell, what do you see as the political risks here for the various parties?

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