Another unsettling day for stocks

The Dow fell 91 points, which comes on top of losses of 131 points in the two previous sessions. On the plus side, volume was low (it's mid-summer), and the index remains at a relatively high at 12,501. But you can just sense that a serious slide may be on the way - kind of like that scratchy throat you get right before a cold. The debt-ceiling news is simply dreadful - it's now looking like Speaker John Boehner's debt plan can't pass the House because a block of Republican zealots are unwilling to budge. Meanwhile, a new Pew poll has 68 percent of those surveyed wanting their member of Congress to compromise on the deficit debate, compared with just 23 percent who want their lawmakers to stand firm - even at risk of default.This very vocal and scary minority appears to be running the show, largely because their elders are too afraid to rap them over the knuckles a few times. I do believe that inevitably their time will run out, and that's when a deal will finally get done. But this is really bad.