Fresh on the heels of Congress passing the Ryan-Murray budget compromise, Obama’s Treasury Department fired the first shot across the bow regarding the looming debt ceiling battle early next year. “I respectfully urge Congress to take action to raise the debt limit at the earliest possible moment,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a letter to congressional leaders. Lew warned that the government would run out of money by late February or early March without action. Cue up the requisite panic inside the Beltway.