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five finger shoes (Reuters) - Top Republicans and Democrats worked behind the scenes on Wednesday on a compromise to avert a crippling U.S. default, looking to salvage a last-minute deal from rival debt plans that have little chance of winning broad congressional approval on their own.With financial markets increasingly on edge, the White House said it saw no alternative to striking a deal to raise the government's borrowing limit by an August 2 deadline to allow the world's largest economy to keep paying all of its bills."People keep looking for off-ramps. They don't exist," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, saying the government would be "running on fumes" after the deadline unless the limit was raised.Even if a deal is reached to lift

five finger shoes the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, a budget plan that flinches from hefty cuts in the deficit may result in a downgrade of the top-notch U.S. credit rating, which would push up U.S. and global borrowing costs.The faltering moves to break the deadlock are already weighing on investors. Along with the uncertainty, Wall Street was hit by weak earnings and lackluster economic data, suffering its worst day in eight weeks."The market is beginning to show real concerns in terms of a default. I don't think it's going to happen ... (but) are we headed for a downgrade? That is becoming more of a possibility as each day goes by," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners in New York.The U.S. dollar rebounded after a sell-off this

five finger shoes week but policy makers in countries from Japan to France fretted over how a crisis of confidence in U.S. solvency could spill into the international economy.Worried investors shifted funds into traditional safe havens gold and the Swiss franc, which both rose to record highs in dollar terms.Leaders in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Democratic-controlled Senate scrambled to find common ground but complications with their competing plans could send attempts at a compromise right down to the wire."You're going to have to make sure that you can have a spending cut package that can pass both chambers -- there's going to be some work to do there," senior White House adviser David Plouffe said on the PBS show "NewsHour."President Barack Obama, a Democrat who will seek a second term in November 2012 elections, has been largely consigned to the sidelines for now.Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have been talking about how to break the impasse, several lawmakers said."GET YOUR ASS IN LINE"Boehner, facing a mutiny by Republican lawmakers aligned with the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement, has been feverishly canvassing support for a vote on Thursday on his reworked deficit reduction bill. It is expected to be close.At a morning meeting, he appeared to be firming up support from several wavering lawmakers as he told them to "get your ass in line" behind what he has described as the best chance to win the deep spending cuts that Republicans