Tuesday morning, Fitch ratings warned that using the debt ceiling as a mechanism for fiscal discipline is ineffective and potentially dangerous, “In Fitch’s opinion, the debt ceiling is an ineffective and potentially dangerous mechanism for enforcing fiscal discipline. It does not prevent tax and spending decisions that will incur debt issuance in excess of the ceiling…”

Fitch ratings is global ratings service. Tuesday morning, they joined the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Treasury Secretary in warning Republicans that they need to raise the debt ceiling or else. They wrote, “… failure to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner will prompt a formal review of the U.S. sovereign ratings. A repeat of the August 2011 ‘debt ceiling crisis’ would oblige Fitch to review its current assessment of the reliability and predictability of the institutional policy framework and prospects for reaching agreement on a credible medium-term deficit reduction plan.”