Veterans of the Obama-era debt ceiling standoff on the current one: We may be doomed

The last time the U.S. found itself on the verge of a debt ceiling disaster, David Kamin had a front row seat to all the action.

An economic adviser in the Obama White House, Kamin was among those charged with solving the 2011 standoff that rattled global markets, dented the economy and led to an embarrassing downgrade of America’s credit rating. The government narrowly averted a catastrophic default that year, striking a deal with just days to spare.

But more than a decade later, with the nation deadlocked again over...