It's kind of like a choose your own adventure, the geekiest choose your own adventure with crazy economic implications.

There's a high stakes choose your own adventure game playing out on Capitol Hill.

Choice. Do you raise the debt ceiling? Turn to page 6.

Or do you let the country default? Turn to page 7.

Page 7. You let the country default. The world falls apart.

And pretty much the potential outcomes are about as depressing as you know the star you die endings to the regular choose your own adventure book.

Objective? Address the debt limit before the U.S. to falls. Something that's never happened.

Which would throw the nation into economic chaos.

The players? A split 50-50 Senate.

Starring the usual cast. Bernie Sanders?

This $3.5 trillion plan is a mountain and Bernie Sanders is ready to move mountains.

Chuck Schumer? Who's gonna flinch when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer eventually brings the debt limit question to the floor?

And don't forget Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell has said that nothing would change his mind. He wouldn't come around.

That does sound like him. Yes, that's a perfect negotiating position.

I'm Ryan Liza. This is Playbook Deep Dive.

My colleague Jennifer Shultis covers budget and appropriations for Politico.

This is the biggest story of the fall and it's major. It's gonna affect every single major negotiation for months to come.

She's been watching the scene on Capitol Hill as senators all try to avoid a political cliff dive over the debt limit.

So we have $28 trillion in debt as a nation.

$28 trillion.

And our waiver on being able to borrow has expired. It expired on July 31st.

So right now the Treasury Department is just trying to kind of scrap around, make sure that the money coming in matches the money going out.

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