Ezra Klein posted the following quote from far-right Marc Thiessen regarding the debt ceiling.
Let’s be clear: Compromise here isn’t spending cuts for a tax increase; compromise is spending cuts for a debt-limit increase. Republicans elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010 campaigned on a promise to reduce the national debt. They are now being asked to turn around a half a year later and vote to raise the national debt. The vast majority of Republican voters don’t want them to raise the debt limit at all. The only way these Republican legislators can vote for a debt-ceiling increase without getting thrown out of office is to show their constituents that they secured unprecedented cuts in current spending — and ironclad constraints on future spending — in exchange. Tax increases? They are not even part of the equation.
He's insane. Raising the debt ceiling isn't so much about reducing or increasing the debt, it's about paying our existing debt obligations and avoiding a major economic calamity. Allowing the debt ceiling deadline to pass is nothing short of suicidal. But this is evidently what the tea party wants, and it proves that they're either ignorant or suicidal or both.
I simply can't grasp why this is even a discussion we're having right now, given the precarious status of the recovery. The Republicans need to grow the hell up. Seriously, grow up. This is an M80 inside a clenched fist. It's irresponsible and completely dangerous. And I'm not sure what the hell the president should do at this point. The Republicans are playing chicken with economic collapse. This ought to disqualify them from being taken seriously as negotiators -- another in a long list of reasons why they're laughably unserious.