Thoughts on the .gov shutdown?

[AFSil80]

Well, we've entered the third week of the shutdown, with the 17th coming up quickly, and if a decision isn't made, our country defaults on the debt held by others.

As expected, China is rumbling around and saying that we had better not default, and multiple governments around the world (especially Europe) are foretelling another recession if we default.
Beijing Urges U.S. to Avoid Default - WSJ.com

We have political heads that obviously want us to raise the debt ceiling and borrow more money (in other words, put a bandaid on a severed limb/keep on kicking the can down the same street), and we have politicians who talk like they would be okay with it crashing (which could turn the dollar into the Deutsche Mark from post-WWI, aka worthless) , and then finally we have statesmen that truly believe that through proper budget and fiscal discussion, that we can actually use our current funding to solve the crisis.
Obama renews calls on Congress to end shutdown, raise debt limit - Washington Post
Debt limit breach no big deal, some GOP lawmakers say
Rand Paul: Obama is trying to ?scare people? on debt ceiling ? CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

That being said, what is anyone's thoughts on the matter? I personally think we should follow Iceland's path from 2008-current, but I think we missed that chance when we bailed out Wall Street instead.
Iceland rises from the ashes of banking collapse | Business | The Guardian