The current political machinations in the US House of Representatives, and what Kevin McCarthy promised to win the speakership, is likely to turn into one of the fiscally riskier situations the country has faced in decades. At issue is the debt ceiling, and the risk is almost beyond description.

"The analogy that somebody used was it was like asking what happened if every nuclear warhead went off—whether you got [only] massive destruction or the end of everything," Rohit Kumar, now Washington national tax services co-leader for PwC and one-time deputy chief of staff for Senator Mitch McConnell said during the 2011 debt crisis faceoff.

That can seem alarmist. As John Luke Tyner, portfolio manager and fixed income analyst at Aptus Capital Advisors tells GlobeSt.com, "They'll probably get a deal done." It's always happened before — eventually. But that isn't always soon enough.