  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Republicans in the Congress struggle
to find a strategy for forcing big spending cuts on President
Barack Obama, some conservative voices are warning against
taking the country to the brink of a debt default as the
strategy for winning the budget wars.  "We would encourage the
administration and the Congress of the United States, first and
foremost, don't default. That's a bad idea," said U.S. Chamber
of Commerce Executive Vice President Bruce Josten on Thursday.
An historic U.S. government default could send global financial
markets reeling as the world's biggest economy would not be able
to borrow money needed to operate its federal government or pay
certain creditors - many of them in Beijing and Tokyo.  The
matter will come to a head in mid- to late-February, when the
Treasury Department will run out of ways to finance the
country's debt without breaching a $16.4 trillion debt limit set
in law.  A showdown between Democrats and Republicans is looming
after Obama warned that he