This piece by Annie Lowrey is a must read. The debt limit debate is already dicking with the economy:
...Congress is starting to spook investors, business owners, and individuals. It has introduced a modicum of much-dreaded uncertainty into their lives. And when investors are uncertain and businesses are afraid, they hunker down in ways that are very bad for the economy. So Congress may not have succeeded in blowing up the markets just yet. But fear not. There are signs it is weakening the anemic recovery.